Chapter 5. Data Frames
On an intuitive level, a data frame is like a matrix, with a two-dimensional rows-and-columns structure. However, it differs from a matrix in that each column may have a different mode. For instance, one column may consist of numbers, and another column might have character strings. In this sense, just as lists are the heterogeneous analogs of vectors in one dimension, data frames are the heterogeneous analogs of matrices for two-dimensional data.
On a technical level, a data frame is a list, with the components of that list being equal-length vectors. Actually, R does allow the components to be other types of objects, including ...
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