R Object : S3 vs S4
✔ S3 class: Most common class used. Can be applied to multiple data types IE Plot () print () summary (). Can only dispatch on the first argument. Allows you to easily change the class of existing objects (Bad). S3 class has no formal, predefined definition. Basically, a list with its class attribute set to some class name, is an S3 object. The components of the list become the member variables of the object. Assigning a character string to an object's class attribute defines a class in S3, whereas ‘setClass’ function is required in S4. A class can only inherit from another class in S3. Alternatively, S4 supports multiple inheritances, allowing a single category to inherit from multiple others. A class attribute is used to dispatch methods in S3 based on its class attribute. Generic functions are called by R by looking for methods with matching names and class attributes. A subclass of the object's class will be sought if no method is found with a class attribute. Based ...