the rationale for using update()
On Wed, 18 May 2005, Thomas Lumley wrote:
On Wed, 18 May 2005, Dimitri Joe wrote:
I wonder what is the rationale for using update(): just saving on typing, more efficiency, or something else?
It saves on typing (and in particular on typing errors). Methods for "update" could be more efficient than fitting the model from scratch, but typically are not.
I'd say readability was the most important reason. In a 200-char call it is hard to see what you changed, but update(fit, . ~ . -x5 + x6) update(fit, method="ML") are self-documenting.
Brian D. Ripley, ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk Professor of Applied Statistics, http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/ University of Oxford, Tel: +44 1865 272861 (self) 1 South Parks Road, +44 1865 272866 (PA) Oxford OX1 3TG, UK Fax: +44 1865 272595