How to Create a New Variable in R

A variable is a way to store data values. We use the “< -” operator to tie a data value to the variable. A variable name should be self-explanatory of what our variable is storing or referring to.

Creating a New Variable in R

To create a new variable in R, type the variable name and assign the data value using the assignment operator < –. For example:

#creating variables
name <- "John"
age <- 24
is_male <- TRUE
#printing variables
print(name)
print(age)
print(is_male)

Naming Rules of Variables in R

These are the rules for naming a variable in R:

1. A variable name can contain numbers, alphabets, and special characters like period (.) and underscore (_).
2. A variable name cannot begin with a number or underscore. For example, 2Student or _Fruits are not allowed. It should always start with an alphabet or a period. However, if you begin the variable name with a period, it should not be followed by a number. For example, .1Student isn’t allowed but .Student1 is allowed.
3. A variable name cannot be the same as the reserved words or keywords. Some of the most common keywords are:
   • if
   • else
   • while
   • repeat
   • for
   • function
   • in
   • next
   • break
   • TRUE
   • FALSE
   • NULL
   • Inf
   • NaN
   • NA
   • NA_integer
   • NA_real
   • NA_complex_
   • NA_character_
4. A variable name cannot include special characters like *, #, $ or whitespaces.