2.
6 THE OPERATORS
Ptherogramming will never be complete without going through
mathematical operators especially on a Data Science
optimized tool like R.
Now that you've explored data types, variables, and
various R objects, it's time to delve into the operators – the
tools that empower you to manipulate, analyze, and transform
your data. Operators act like bridges between these
elements, allowing you to perform calculations, comparisons,
and more.
Categorizing R Operators:
R boasts a diverse set of operators, each with a speci c
function. Here's a breakdown of the key categories:
‣ Arithmetic Operators: These perform basic mathematical
operations on numeric data.
Examples:
+ (addition), - (subtraction),
* (multiplication), / (division),
^ (exponentiation),
%% (modulo - remainder after division)
‣ Comparison Operators: These compare values and
return logical (TRUE/FALSE) results.
Examples:
== (equal to), != (not equal to), < (less than),
>(greater than), <= (less than or equal to),
>= (greater than or equal to)
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• Logical Operators: These combine logical values (TRUE/
FALSE) to create complex expressions.
• Assignment Operators: These assign values to variables.
Examples:
= (assignment),
<- (assignment),
<<- (left assignment - assigns and evaluate)
• Miscellaneous Operators: These cover various
functionalities like subsetting (extracting speci c data)
and recycling (using a short vector multiple times).
Examples:
: (colon for subsetting),
[] (square brackets for subsetting),
c() (combine vectors)
Exploring Key Operators:
Let's delve deeper into some commonly used operators:
• Arithmetic Operators: Imagine calculating the average
age in a dataset. You'd use the + operator to sum the
ages and then / to divide by the number of people.
• Comparison Operators: Determining if a customer’s
purchase amount exceeds a certain threshold involves
comparison operators. > would check if the purchase
amount is greater than the threshold.
• Logical Operators: Combining conditions often involves
logical operators. For example, ltering customers who
are both active (TRUE) and have purchased a speci c
product category (TRUE) might use the & operator.
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• Assignment Operators: Assigning a calculated value to a
variable is crucial. The = operator allows you to store the
result of an expression in a variable for further use.
Remember:
• Precedence: Operators have a speci c order of
operations (precedence). Just like in math, multiplication
and division happen before addition and subtraction. Use
parentheses to control the order if needed.
• Data Type Compatibility: Operators often work best with
compatible data types. Mixing numeric and character data
might lead to unexpected results.
Beyond the Basics:
While these are the fundamental operators, R o ers more!
Here are some additional points to consider:
• Vectorized Operations: R performs operations element-
wise on vectors. This means a single operator can be
applied to all elements simultaneously, making vectorized
operations e cient for data manipulation.
• Recycling: When using short vectors in operations with
longer ones, R recycles the shorter vector to match the
length of the longer one. This can be handy but requires
awareness to avoid errors.
Mastering Operators:
By understanding and applying operators e ectively, you’ll
unlock the power to manipulate your data in R. As you
progress, you'll encounter more specialized operators within
speci c packages, further expanding your data analysis
capabilities. So, experiment, practice, and unleash the power
of operators in your R journey!
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HANDS-ON ACTIVITY # 3
Gdesigned
et ready to ex your R muscles with this hands-on activity
to solidify your understanding of essential
operators!
Scenario:
You're a data analyst for a tness app and have a dataset
containing information about users' workouts. Let's explore
and manipulate this data using various operators.
Data: (Imagine you have this data loaded into a data frame
named workout_data)
Duration Calories
User ID Activity
mins) Burned
1 Running 30 250
2 Swimming 45 320
3 Yoga 60 180
4 Cycling 20 150
5 Strength Training 40 300
Calculating Average Workout Duration:
Objective: Calculate the average workout duration for all
users.
Operators Used: Arithmetic (+, /)
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Steps:
1. Use sum(workout_data$Duration) to nd the total workout
duration for all users.
2. Use nrow(workout_data) to nd the number of users
(number of rows in the data frame).
3. Combine these steps using the arithmetic operators to
calculate the average duration:
average_duration <- sum(workout_data$Du ration) / nrow(workout_data)
4. Print the average_duration to see the average workout
time in minutes.
Write the R scripts (commands) you used on each line and
have it validated by your instructor.
>
Please use a separate sheet should your need more lines.
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Identifying High-Intensity Workouts:
Objective: Find workouts that burned more than 200 calories.
Operators Used: Comparison (>) and Logical (&)
Steps:
1. Use the comparison operator > to identify workouts with
calories burned greater than 200:
high_intensity_workouts <- workout_data$CaloriesBurned > 200
2. This creates a logical vector indicating TRUE for workouts
exceeding 200 calories and FALSE otherwise.
3. Use the data frame with this logical vector to lter the
original data and see only high-intensity workouts:
subset(workout_data, high_intensity_workouts)
Write the R scripts (commands) you used on each line and
have it validated by your instructor.
>
Please use a separate sheet should your need more lines.
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Analyzing Activity Preferences:
Objective: See if there's a relationship between activity type
and calorie burn.
Operators Used: Comparison (==) and Logical (&)
Steps:
1. Create a new variable indicating "High Burn" (TRUE) if
calories burned exceed 250 and "Low Burn" (FALSE)
otherwise:
workout_data$Burn_Category <- workout_data$CaloriesBurned > 250
2. Use the comparison operator == to identify workouts with
speci c activities
(e.g., running_workouts <- workout_data$Activity == “Running”).
3. Combine these conditions using the logical operator & to
see if running workouts tend to be high burn:
high_burn_running <- workout_data$Burn_Category == TRUE &
running_workouts
4. Analyze similar comparisons for other activity types to
explore potential trends.
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Write the R scripts (commands) you used on each line and
have it validated by your instructor.
>
Please use a separate sheet should your need more lines.
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Bonus Activity:
1. Modify the activity to calculate the total calories burned
for all users combined.
Write the R scripts (commands) you used on each line and
have it validated by your instructor.
>
Please use a separate sheet should your need more lines.
2. Explore using assignment operators (=, <-) to create new
variables derived from existing data (e.g., calculate total
calories burned per user).
Write the R scripts (commands) you used on each line and
have it validated by your instructor.
>
Please use a separate sheet should your need more lines.
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