{"id":76007,"date":"2020-01-30T10:35:44","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T05:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techvidvan.com\/tutorials\/?p=76007"},"modified":"2020-01-30T10:35:44","modified_gmt":"2020-01-30T05:05:44","slug":"r-object-oriented-programming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techvidvan.com\/tutorials\/r-object-oriented-programming\/","title":{"rendered":"Object Oriented Programming (OOP) in R with S3, S4, and RC"},"content":{"rendered":"

This TechVidvan article will give you the much-needed knowledge of object-oriented programming techniques to make your R programs more efficient and readable.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this tutorial, we will go to the basics of object-oriented programming (OOP). We will study what are object-oriented and functional programming techniques and then look at how we can implement them in R programs. We will also take a look at various OOP approaches used in R.<\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s get started!<\/p>\n

What is Object-Oriented Programming?<\/h3>\n

Object-oriented programming is a programming technique<\/strong> that manages the complexity of a program more efficiently. It uses techniques like abstraction<\/strong>, encapsulation<\/strong>, and polymorphism<\/strong>. It enacts an environment where the tasks are distributed among the different parts of the program or \u2018objects\u2019<\/strong>. These objects hide their internal working from other objects and only share concise details regarding what they can do and how to contact them.<\/p>\n

For example, think of it as a company. A company may have different departments dealing with different aspects of it. One department does not share its internal workings with another. All a department needs to know is what the other departments do and how to get their help when needed. How a department does whatever it does, is not a concern to the others. This way, the tasks are distributed to appropriate departments and they all focus only on their jobs.<\/p>\n

Similarly, in an object-oriented environment, we can think of the programs as interactions between different objects<\/strong> instead of steps of an algorithm.<\/p>\n

What is Functional Programming?<\/h3>\n

Functional programming is a declarative<\/strong> programming style. It uses expressions that it evaluates to produce their values. Statements assign variables and expressions can be grouped together as functions to make organized routines of expressions. Functional programming is algorithmic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Functional vs Object-Oriented Programming<\/h3>\n

Here are the key differences between functional and object-oriented programming:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. In functional programming, the primary unit is a function while in OOP, the primary unit is an object.<\/li>\n
  2. Functional programming focuses on evaluating functions whereas OOP deals with objects and their interactions among each other.<\/li>\n
  3. Data in functional programming is immutable that is when we modify data (which can be a function or a variable) the data is not simply modified. It is copied and the new copy has the changes made while the old copy is still saved in the memory. OOP has mutable data.<\/li>\n
  4. Functional programming uses recursion<\/strong><\/a> for iterative processing while OOP uses loops<\/strong> for it.<\/li>\n
  5. Functional programming supports parallel programming. Its functions do not affect code running on other processors. Object-oriented programming does not support parallel programming. Its methods may affect parallelly running parts of the program.<\/li>\n
  6. In functional programming, statements can be executed in any order whereas in OOP, execution needs to be in a specific order.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Learn how loops work in R<\/strong><\/a> programming with examples.<\/p>\n

    Core Concepts of Object-Oriented Programming<\/h3>\n

    Object-oriented programming has a few core techniques that distinguish it from other programming paradigms. Most OOP languages don\u2019t implement all of them but just some of these techniques instead. The most common ones are:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Polymorphism:<\/strong> Polymorphism means different shapes. In polymorphism, a single name can be used to call different objects based on the context it is used in. Overloading<\/strong> and overriding<\/strong> are good examples of polymorphism techniques.<\/li>\n
    2. Encapsulation:<\/strong> Encapsulation deals with abstraction<\/strong>. It ensures that the data encapsulated inside an object is not visible to other objects. Only the data and methods declared to be public knowledge are known to others.<\/li>\n
    3. Hierarchies:<\/strong> In OOP, hierarchies can be of two types: Inheritance<\/strong> or Composition<\/strong>.\n