R Data Types

R Tutorial

🧩 R Data Types – Complete Tutorial 

In R, data types define what kind of data a variable can store and how R interprets it.
Understanding data types is essential for data analysis, statistics, and interviews.

1️⃣ What are Data Types in R?

R has several basic (atomic) and complex data types.

👉 The most commonly used atomic data types are:

  1. Numeric

  2. Integer

  3. Character

  4. Logical

  5. Complex

2️⃣ Numeric Data Type ⭐

  • Stores decimal or real numbers

  • Default number type in R


3️⃣ Integer Data Type ⭐

  • Stores whole numbers

  • Use L suffix


4️⃣ Character Data Type ⭐

  • Stores text / strings


5️⃣ Logical Data Type ⭐

  • Stores TRUE or FALSE

  • Used in conditions


6️⃣ Complex Data Type ⭐

  • Stores complex numbers


7️⃣ Special Data Types in R ⚠️

NA – Missing Value

x <- NA

NULL – Empty / No Value

y <- NULL

NaN – Not a Number

0 / 0
# NaN

Inf – Infinity

1 / 0
# Inf

8️⃣ Checking Data Types ⭐


9️⃣ Type Conversion (Coercion) ⭐

R automatically converts types when needed.


📌 Coercion hierarchy:

Logical → Integer → Numeric → Character

🔟 Vectors with Different Data Types ❌


📌 R converts all elements to character.

1️⃣1️⃣ Data Type vs Data Structure ⭐

Data Type Example
Numeric 10, 3.5
Character “R”
Logical TRUE
Data Structure Example
Vector c(1,2,3)
List list(1,”R”,TRUE)
Matrix matrix(1:4)
Data Frame data.frame()

1️⃣2️⃣ Common Mistakes ❌

❌ Forgetting L for integer
❌ Mixing data types in vectors
❌ Confusing NA and NULL
❌ Ignoring implicit coercion

📌 Interview Questions & MCQs

Q1. Default numeric type in R?

A) Integer
B) Double
C) Float
D) Logical

✅ Answer: B

Q2. Which data type stores text?

A) Numeric
B) Logical
C) Character
D) Integer

✅ Answer: C

Q3. Which value represents missing data?

A) NULL
B) NaN
C) NA
D) Inf

✅ Answer: C

Q4. What happens when mixing data types in vector?

A) Error
B) Warning
C) Coercion
D) Ignored

✅ Answer: C

Q5. Which is NOT an atomic data type?

A) Numeric
B) Character
C) Data Frame
D) Logical

✅ Answer: C

🔥 Real-Life Use Cases

✔ Data cleaning
✔ Data validation
✔ Statistical analysis
✔ Machine learning
✔ Data transformation

✅ Summary

  • It has 5 main atomic data types

  • Default numeric type is double

  • Special values: NA, NULL, NaN, Inf

  • R uses automatic type coercion

  • Understanding data types is critical for R programming & interviews

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