Introduction to Data Types in R

Data types define the kind of values that can be stored in variables. R has several built-in data types.

Common Data Types in R

R has several fundamental data types:

• Numeric: Decimal numbers (e.g., 3.14, 42).
• Integer: Whole numbers (e.g., 10L, -5L).
• Character: Text strings (e.g., 'Hello', 'R').
• Logical: Boolean values (TRUE, FALSE).

Checking Data Types

You can check the type of a variable using the class() function.

x <- 42
class(x)

Converting Between Data Types

You can convert data types using functions like:

• as.numeric()
• as.character()
• as.logical()

y <- as.character(42)
class(y)

Handling Logical Values

Logical values (TRUE, FALSE) are often used in comparisons and conditions.

a <- 10
b <- 20
a < b

Working with Character Data

Character data is used for storing text in R.

name <- 'John'
nchar(name)

NA and NULL Values

R uses NA for missing values and NULL for undefined objects.

x <- NA
is.na(x)

Converting Logical to Numeric

Logical values can be converted to numeric (TRUE = 1, FALSE = 0).

as.numeric(TRUE)

Summary

In this lesson, you learned about:

• Different data types in R.
• Checking and converting data types.
• Handling missing values.