R Programming By Example

Matrices

Matrices are commonly used in mathematics and statistics, and much of R's power comes from the various operations you can perform with them. In R, a matrix is a vector with two additional attributes, the number of rows and the number of columns. And, since matrices are vectors, they are constrained to a single data type.

You can use the matrix() function to create matrices. You may pass it a vector of values, as well as the number of rows and columns the matrix should have. If you specify the vector of values and one of the dimensions, the other one will be calculated for you automatically to be the lowest number that makes sense for the vector you passed. However, you may specify both of them simultaneously if you prefer, which ...