What is the difference between an R Matrix and an R Array?

The main difference between an R matrix and an R array is that a matrix is always two-dimensional, while an array can be multi-dimensional. Both structures store elements of the same type, but arrays are more flexible in terms of the number of dimensions they can represent.

# Example of a 2D matrix
my_matrix <- matrix(1:6, nrow = 2, ncol = 3)

# Example of a 3D array
my_array <- array(1:12, dim = c(2, 3, 2))

# Printing the matrix
print(my_matrix)

# Printing the array
print(my_array)

In this example, my_matrix is a 2D structure with 2 rows and 3 columns, while my_array is a 3D structure with dimensions 2x3x2. Arrays are used when you need to work with data in more than two dimensions, such as in multi-layered data representations.