Writing Reusable Functions

Abstract

R provides users the ability to write, save, and reuse functions. These functions are flexible and extend the power of R for users who need specialized capabilities not provided by the functions in base R or in contributed packages. Users are advised, however, to check CRAN (the Comprehensive R Archive Network) before they write a function, as it is very likely that someone else has encountered the same problem previously, and has already written the desired function for you. A case in point is the z test function we wrote in Recipe 10-1. As it materializes, the BSDA package already has a function labeled z.test that accomplishes the purpose we needed, and which also provides more options, including two-sample tests and directional and nondirectional alternative hypotheses.