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Naming a vector in R | Question 1

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As a data analyst, it is important to have a clear view on the data that you are using. Understanding what each element refers to is therefore essential.

You can give a name to the elements of a vector with the names()function. Have a look at this example:

some_vector <- c("John Doe", "poker player")
names(some_vector) <- c("Name", "Profession")

This code first creates a vector some_vector and then gives the two elements a name. The first element is assigned the name Name, while the second element is labeled Profession. Printing the contents to the console yields following output:

          Name     Profession 
    "John Doe" "poker player" 
  • The code on the right names the elements in poker_vector with the days of the week. Add code to do the same thing for roulette_vector.

Program Code

# Poker winnings from Monday to Friday
poker_vector <- c(140, -50, 20, -120, 240)

# Roulette winnings from Monday to Friday
roulette_vector <- c(-24, -50, 100, -350, 10)

# Assign days as names of poker_vector
names(poker_vector) <- c("Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday")

# Assign days as names of roulette_vector
names(roulette_vector) <- c("Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday")

# see poker_vector result
poker_vector
# see roulette_vector result
roulette_vector

Output

> # Poker winnings from Monday to Friday
> poker_vector <- c(140, -50, 20, -120, 240)
> 
> # Roulette winnings from Monday to Friday
> roulette_vector <- c(-24, -50, 100, -350, 10)
> 
> # Assign days as names of poker_vector
> names(poker_vector) <- c("Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday")
> 
> # Assign days as names of roulette_vector
> names(roulette_vector) <- c("Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday")
> 
># see poker_vector result
> poker_vector
   Monday   Tuesday Wednesday  Thursday    Friday 
      140       -50        20      -120       240 
>
># see roulette_vector result
> roulette_vector
   Monday   Tuesday Wednesday  Thursday    Friday 
      -24       -50       100      -350        10 

Explanation

You can give a name to the elements of a vector with the names()function. 

How to learn from this program

First read the algorithm, then study the program code line by line. After that, compare the code with the output and finally go through the explanation. This approach helps learners understand both the logic and the implementation properly.