🏠 R Variables & Data Types: Your Digital Treasure Boxes

Imagine you have a room full of treasure boxes. Each box has a name tag on it, and inside you can store different kinds of treasures—numbers, words, or yes/no answers. That’s exactly what variables are in R!

🎯 What You’ll Discover

• How to create and name your treasure boxes (Variables)
• The magic arrows that put treasures inside (Assignment Operators)
• Four types of treasures: Numbers, Integers, Words, and True/False

📦 Variables and Assignment

What Is a Variable?

A variable is like a labeled box where you keep stuff. You give it a name, and R remembers what’s inside.

my_age <- 10

Here, my_age is the name tag and 10 is the treasure inside.

Naming Your Boxes

Good names:

player_score <- 100
favorite_color <- "blue"
is_sunny <- TRUE

Rules:

• Start with a letter (not a number!)
• Use letters, numbers, underscores _, or dots .
• No spaces allowed

graph TD
    A[You want to store something] --> B[Pick a name]
    B --> C[Use <- to put it in]
    C --> D[R remembers it!]

➡️ Assignment Operators

The Magic Arrow: <-

This is R’s favorite way to put things in boxes:

my_pet <- "dog"

Think of <- as an arrow pointing TO the box. The treasure goes INTO the name.

The Equal Sign: =

This works too, but <- is the R tradition:

my_pet = "cat"

Quick Compare

Pro tip: Most R programmers use <- because it’s crystal clear!

🔢 Numeric Data Type

Numbers With Decimals

When you store regular numbers (with or without decimals), R calls them numeric:

price <- 19.99
temperature <- 72.5
pi_value <- 3.14159

Check the Type

Want to see what type of treasure you have?

price <- 19.99
class(price)
# Returns: "numeric"

Doing Math

Numeric values love math:

a <- 10.5
b <- 3.2
sum <- a + b  # 13.7

🎯 Integer Data Type

Whole Numbers Only

Sometimes you only want whole numbers—no decimals allowed! Add an L to tell R:

apples <- 5L
students <- 30L

The L stands for “Long integer” (a programming tradition).

Why Use Integers?

• Counting things (you can’t have 2.5 students!)
• Saves memory for big data
• Some functions need whole numbers

count <- 42L
class(count)
# Returns: "integer"

Integer vs Numeric

graph TD
    A[Number] --> B{Has decimal?}
    B -->|Yes| C[Numeric: 3.14]
    B -->|No| D{Has L?}
    D -->|Yes| E[Integer: 5L]
    D -->|No| F[Still Numeric: 5]

📝 Character Data Type

Words and Text

Want to store words, sentences, or any text? Use quotes:

name <- "Alice"
greeting <- 'Hello, World!'
emoji <- "🎉"

Single ' or double " quotes both work!

Examples

city <- "New York"
favorite_food <- "pizza"
secret_code <- "ABC123"

Check It

my_word <- "sunshine"
class(my_word)
# Returns: "character"

Combining Text

Use paste() to glue words together:

first <- "Hello"
second <- "World"
paste(first, second)
# Returns: "Hello World"

✅ Logical Data Type

True or False—That’s It!

Logical values answer yes/no questions. Only two options:

is_raining <- TRUE
is_monday <- FALSE

Always use CAPITAL letters: TRUE and FALSE

Where Logicals Shine

Perfect for decisions and comparisons:

age <- 15
is_teenager <- age >= 13 & age <= 19
is_teenager  # TRUE

Shortcut

You can use T and F as shortcuts:

answer <- T   # Same as TRUE
wrong <- F    # Same as FALSE

Logical Operations

🎨 The Complete Picture

graph TD
    A[R Data Types] --> B[Numeric]
    A --> C[Integer]
    A --> D[Character]
    A --> E[Logical]
    B --> B1["3.14, 99.9"]
    C --> C1["5L, 100L"]
    D --> D1["'hello', 'R'"]
    E --> E1["TRUE, FALSE"]

🧪 Quick Reference Table

🚀 You Did It!

Now you know how to:

✅ Create variables with meaningful names ✅ Use <- to assign values ✅ Store decimals as numeric ✅ Store whole numbers as integer with L ✅ Store text as character with quotes ✅ Store yes/no as logical with TRUE/FALSE

Your treasure boxes are ready! Go fill them with amazing data! 🎉