R help - Apr 2011 - lapply sequence

Good day,

My question is: Does the lapply function guarantee a particular sequence in
which elements are mapped? And, are we guaranteed that lapply will always be
sequential (i.e. never map elements in parallel) ?

The reason I ask is if I use lapply with the mapping function set to
something that has side-effects that need to be executed in a particular
sequence.

If this is not possible, is there an alternate method other than using a for
loop?

-- 
Dean Marks

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On 20/04/2011 7:26 AM, Dean Marks wrote:
> Good day,
>
> My question is: Does the lapply function guarantee a particular sequence in
> which elements are mapped? And, are we guaranteed that lapply will always
be
> sequential (i.e. never map elements in parallel) ?
No.
> The reason I ask is if I use lapply with the mapping function set to
> something that has side-effects that need to be executed in a particular
> sequence.
Use a for loop.
> If this is not possible, is there an alternate method other than using a
for
> loop?
while or repeat.

Duncan Murdoch