That said, I do appreciate that using `return` is more consistent with other languages and does it make it clear which object is being returned by the function. In standard R usage, though, using it at the end of a function is superfluous and I feel it should be reserved for its intended use. - ThreadSky

About ThreadSky

noahgreifer.bsky.social • 14 days ago

That said, I do appreciate that using `return` is more consistent with other languages and does it make it clear which object is being returned by the function. In standard R usage, though, using it at the end of a function is superfluous and I feel it should be reserved for its intended use.

Comments

pausalz.bsky.social•14 days ago

As a primarily non-R person, not having `return` makes R code harder to read (I want clarity in what a function is returning!!)

mathematiguy.bsky.social•14 days ago

For me the thing is, if you have a function call at the end of your function, you don’t know if the outside function returns anything or not.

Maybe the inside function modifies another object in place and returns nothing, or maybe it returns something and therefore the outside function does too.

noahgreifer.bsky.social•14 days ago

True! This requires clearer coding and commenting to make it obvious what's going on. I tend to avoid functions that return nothing, and when I use them I usually call them `check_*` to signify that that function only throws an error is a condition is met and does nothing otherwise.

noahgreifer.bsky.social•14 days ago

I feel that. When I write C++ functions for my R packages, I like having to put return at the end of the function. I try to write R code so the output is either identified by return if terminated early or is the very last line of a function.

solomonkurz.bsky.social•14 days ago

'cause C++' is a major flex

noahgreifer.bsky.social•14 days ago

Everything I know about C++ is thanks to @teuder.bsky.social's excellent guide (https://teuder.github.io/rcpp4everyone_en/) and @eddelbuettel.com's packages and materials.

ehudk.bsky.social•14 days ago

I second that. especially when R programers -- often being statisticians more than computer scientists / software engineers -- rarely write Clean Code-like short well-defined functions.

Posting Rules

Be respectful to others
No spam or self-promotion
Stay on topic
Follow Bluesky's terms of service

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply