Replicate Function In R: How To Use Replicate() In R

Are you wondering what is the replicate() function in R, its syntax, and how to use it? Don’t worry because in this tutorial, we will show you the definition and how to apply this powerful function in your program. The replicate() function is often used to reproduce an expression several times. 

The replicate() function in R

The idea of the replicate() function in R is to recreate an expression multiple times.

Syntax: 

replicate(n, expression)

Parameters:

• n: number of times that you want to repeat the expression.
• expression: the expression that will be evaluated.

Using replicate() with a value

When using replicate() with a value, it will evaluate the value several times. 

Examples:

Replicate a number value:

# Replicate a number value 8t times
replicate(5, 8)

Output:

[1] 8 8 8 8 8

Replicate a string:

# Replicate a string 7 times
replicate(7, "Welcome to LearnShareIT.com!")

Output:

[1] "Welcome to LearnShareIT.com!" "Welcome to LearnShareIT.com!"
[3] "Welcome to LearnShareIT.com!" "Welcome to LearnShareIT.com!"
[5] "Welcome to LearnShareIT.com!" "Welcome to LearnShareIT.com!"
[7] "Welcome to LearnShareIT.com!"

Replicate a Boolean value:

# Replicate a Boolean value 8 times.
bool = FALSE
replicate(8, bool)

Output:

[1] FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE

Using replicate() with a function

If we want to reuse a function continuously, we can also use the replicate() function. For example, one of the most common functions that are used with the replicate() function is the rnorm() function.

Syntax:

rnorm(n, mean, sd)

Parameters:

• n: numbers of observation
• mean: mean value 
• sd: standard deviation

The rnorm() function will create a vector of random normally distributed numbers with a given mean value and standard deviation. 

Example: 

rnorm(5, mean = 2, sd = 1) 

Output:

[1] 3.6554362 0.1929074 2.3446552 3.3391654 0.6136533

Now, if we combine this with replicate(), we can create a matrix with multiple rows and columns.

# Create a matrix with 5 rows and 6 columns
replicate(6, rnorm(5, mean = 2, sd = 1))

Output:

           [,1]      [,2]     [,3]     [,4]     [,5]      [,6]
[1,]  3.2452129 2.0972007 3.153221 1.721730 1.842861 2.7416106
[2,]  2.4023250 1.3216388 1.115671 1.371091 1.944951 3.1734481
[3,] -0.2056371 3.6771113 1.895976 1.341261 2.071135 1.7644208
[4,]  1.4548020 0.6967778 2.007410 1.967741 3.602688 0.6592713
[5,]  2.9161136 1.1926133 2.438150 2.532875 2.990078 1.4965662

Summary

In this tutorial, we have shown you the syntax and applications of the replicate() function in R. Basically, the replicate() function will replicate an expression multiple times. We can use it to repeatedly evaluate a value or even a function.

Maybe you are interested:

• Separate() Function In R. How To Use Separate() Function In R?
• Transform() Function In R – Modify Value Of A Data Frame
• Spread() Function In R: How To Use spread() In R

Khanh Ngo

Hello. My name is Khanh Hai Ngo. I graduated in Information Technology at VinUni. My advanced programming languages include C, C++, Python, Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, and R, which I would like to share with you. You will benefit from my content.

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Name of the university: VinUni
Major: EE
Programming Languages: C, C++, Python, Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, R