Message-ID: <D989CE5F-1626-4DFA-9028-3115CAF52AC2@gmail.com>
Date: 2012-10-02T15:14:51Z
From: Peter Dalgaard
Subject: Basic question about: <<- and method start with dot.
In-Reply-To: <CABdHhvEPm=KDB8mVuo9HnJY5ktmYFZC0y21FVnGmj9HtO684QA@mail.gmail.com>
On Oct 2, 2012, at 13:35 , Hadley Wickham wrote:
>>> What is the special meaning for the method name start with a dot?
>>
>> It means nothing in particular, except that such objects don't show up in ls() by default. The _intention_ is usually that the function is only to be used internally and not for end-user use.
>
> But these days, if you're writing a package, you're better off using namespaces.
Sure, but that doesn't keep package writers from using that kind of naming convention for non-exported objects. (Notice that this started as a question about reading 3rd party source codes.)
--
Peter Dalgaard, Professor
Center for Statistics, Copenhagen Business School
Solbjerg Plads 3, 2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark
Phone: (+45)38153501
Email: pd.mes at cbs.dk Priv: PDalgd at gmail.com