Assignment operator about efficientr HOT 5 CLOSED

Thanks for the feedback. I realise that "<-" is typically prefered to "=", but my preference has come from teaching. AFAIK, there isn't another language that uses "<-". Many people program in another language, C, python, Java, Scala, Javascript, Stan; and switching operator is a pain.

I was teaching R to a bunch of C# programmers a few weeks ago. Their number 1 irritation was "<-"; when I mentioned that "=" did the same job, they loved it.

We'll keep the issue under review before the final version.

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BTW, thanks for the link to your site. Very nice.

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I don't teach my students how to do a proper coding style myself. I teach them about lintr and then expect them to have clean lints. Also @lintr-bot is well known to all of them.

I interpret the = for an assignment as a hint that I am looking at beginner code, even though I know some experts use it.

As a C++ programmer, I have no problems using different assignment operators at all, like I also don't have a problem with different bracket placements. Also, Hadley Wickham is a C++ programmer, who hasn't suffered at all.

But, hey, feel free to ignore. It's just a minor detail of a possibly awesome book!

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Here's my take from a teaching perspective: people get really muddled about the assignment issue and it's clear that <- is a relic to old code. I recently made the switch (following the lead from Colin and discussion for this book) and I can honestly say it's made my life better. Not much. But I save maybe 1/4 a second and finger dexterity each time I assign an object now. + it's WAY easier for teaching.

From a philosophical perspective: be the change you want to see in the world. I want fast-to-type, easy to read code, the style of which adapts over time in the same way that human languages do.

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Thanks for this friendly addition! Well, in the end we do not have to agree about every single thing, which is fine. I then just hope you like my other suggestions better :-)

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