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Coming from Python, the absence of a real dictionary in R has annoyed me for quite some time. Now, I actually needed to use vectors as keys in R:Want to share your content on R-bloggers? click here if you have a blog, or here if you don't.
library(dict)
d <- dict()
d[[1]] <- 42
d[[c(2, 3)]] <- "Hello!"
d[["foo"]] <- "bar"
d[[1]]
d[[c(2, 3)]]
d$get("not here", "default")
d$keys()
d$values()
d$items()
# [[ ]] gives an error for unknown keys
d[["?"]]
Under the hood, separate C++ dictionaries (unordered_map) are created for the different types of keys. Using R’s flexible types that are reflected in Rcpp (as SEXP), such a dictionary can store both numbers and strings (and other objects) at the same time.
The package is available on GitHub: https://github.com/mkuhn/dict
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