Thank you for your perspective . . . I see what you mean, and that's
actually
more or less how I had interpreted Professor Ripley's remarks. I'll have
to
investigate further the advantages of using S4 classes in my work. I suspect
they'll eventually prove their worth. Thanks again for the clarification. SC
Quoting "Liaw, Andy" <andy_liaw at merck.com>:
> Sam,
>
> What BDR meant (I believe) is that it depends on _how_ you intend to use R,
> not what your background is. If you are going to develop code using the
new
> S4 classes, the green book will be relevant. If you are going to use R for
> data analysis, there's probably little to gain by reading the green
book.
>
> Best,
> Andy
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: r-help-bounces at stat.math.ethz.ch
> > [mailto:r-help-bounces at stat.math.ethz.ch] On Behalf Of Sam Chapman
> > Sent: Monday, August 23, 2004 10:16 AM
> > To: Prof Brian Ripley
> > Cc: Thomas Lumley; r-help at stat.math.ethz.ch
> > Subject: Re: [R] The "Green" Book?
> >
> >
> > Thank you for your responses. I should have mentioned that I
> > am new to R, but
> > not to programming. Nevertheless, the insights are valued and
> > appreciated!
> >
> >
> > Quoting Prof Brian Ripley <ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk>:
> >
> > > On Fri, 20 Aug 2004, Thomas Lumley wrote:
> > >
> > > > On Fri, 20 Aug 2004, Sam Chapman wrote:
> > > >
> > >
> > > [A quote from `An Introduction to R' has been excised here]
> > >
> > > > > There is no mention of 'Programming with Data: A
Guide
> > to the S Language'
> > > by
> > > > > John M. Chambers. Is this newest ("Green")
book also
> > suitable as a
> > > reference
> > > > > for R? Thank you for your time and attention!
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > Yes. The system implemented in the "methods"
package is
> > not identical to
> > > > that in the Green Book, but it's pretty similar.
> > >
> > > Well, it is suitable as reference for programmers using the
> > "methods"
> > > package in R, not quite the question asked. At the level of `An
> > > Introduction to R' it is not really a suitable reference as
> > it has limited
> > > coverage at that level. (The Green Book itself recommends
> > other books for
> > > end users.)
> > >
> > > --
> > > 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
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > Sam Chapman
> >
> > ______________________________________________
> > R-help at stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list
> > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
> > PLEASE do read the posting guide!
> > http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
> >
> >
>
>
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Notice: This e-mail message, together with any attachments, contains
> information of Merck & Co., Inc. (One Merck Drive, Whitehouse Station,
New
> Jersey, USA 08889), and/or its affiliates (which may be known outside the
> United States as Merck Frosst, Merck Sharp & Dohme or MSD and in Japan,
as
> Banyu) that may be confidential, proprietary copyrighted and/or legally
> privileged. It is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity
> named on this message. If you are not the intended recipient, and have
> received this message in error, please notify us immediately by reply
e-mail
> and then delete it from your system.
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
Sincerely,
Sam Chapman