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rr-faq

Is there anything wrong with using T & F instead of TRUE & FALSE?

I noticed that using T and F instead of TRUE and FALSE in functions in R gives me the same results. Of course, T and F are more concise, yet, I see TRUE and FALSE being used more often.

I was wondering whether there is any difference between the two? Is there anything wrong with using T and F?

Solution

  • T and F can be re-defined, but TRUE and FALSE are reserved words and cannot be re-defined.

    > TRUE <- 1L
Error in TRUE <- 1L : invalid (do_set) left-hand side to assignment
> FALSE <- 0L
Error in FALSE <- 0L : invalid (do_set) left-hand side to assignment
> T <- F  # yikes, this would be hard to debug!

    Personally, I sometimes use T and F when I use R interactively, but I never use them in production code or packages.