There are three main goals to the vctrs package, each described in a vignette:
To propose vec_size() and vec_ptype()
as alternatives to length() and class();
vignette("type-size"). These definitions are paired with a
framework for size-recycling and type-coercion. ptype
should evoke the notion of a prototype, i.e. the original or typical
form of something.
To define size- and type-stability as desirable function
properties, use them to analyse existing base functions, and to propose
better alternatives; vignette("stability"). This work has
been particularly motivated by thinking about the ideal properties of
c(), ifelse(), and
rbind().
To provide a new vctr base class that makes it easy
to create new S3 vectors; vignette("s3-vector"). vctrs
provides methods for many base generics in terms of a few new vctrs
generics, making implementation considerably simpler and more
robust.
vctrs is a developer-focussed package. Understanding and extending vctrs requires some effort from developers, but should be invisible to most users. It’s our hope that having an underlying theory will mean that users can build up an accurate mental model without explicitly learning the theory. vctrs will typically be used by other packages, making it easy for them to provide new classes of S3 vectors that are supported throughout the tidyverse (and beyond). For that reason, vctrs has few dependencies.
Install vctrs from CRAN with:
install.packages("vctrs")Alternatively, if you need the development version, install it with:
# install.packages("pak")
pak::pak("r-lib/vctrs")library(vctrs)
# Sizes
vec_size_common(1, 1:10)
#> [1] 10
str(vec_recycle_common(1, 1:10))
#> List of 2
#> $ : num [1:10] 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
#> $ : int [1:10] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Prototypes
vec_ptype_common(FALSE, 1L, 2.5)
#> numeric(0)
str(vec_cast_common(FALSE, 1L, 2.5))
#> List of 3
#> $ : num 0
#> $ : num 1
#> $ : num 2.5