Set Data Frame Variables as List Items in R (Example Code)

In this R post you’ll learn how to set a data frame column as list element.

Introducing Example Data

data(iris)                                  # Loading example data
iris_small <- head(iris)                    # Reduce size of example data
iris_small                                  # Showing head of example data
#   Sepal.Length Sepal.Width Petal.Length Petal.Width Species
# 1          5.1         3.5          1.4         0.2  setosa
# 2          4.9         3.0          1.4         0.2  setosa
# 3          4.7         3.2          1.3         0.2  setosa
# 4          4.6         3.1          1.5         0.2  setosa
# 5          5.0         3.6          1.4         0.2  setosa
# 6          5.4         3.9          1.7         0.4  setosa

Example: Set Data Frame Columns as List Elements

iris_list <- list()                         # Constructing empty list object
for(i in 1:ncol(iris_small)) {              # Convert variables to list elements
  iris_list[[i]] <- iris_small[ , i]
}
names(iris_list) <- colnames(iris_small)    # Change names of list elements
iris_list                                   # Showing list in RStudio console
# $Sepal.Length
# [1] 5.1 4.9 4.7 4.6 5.0 5.4
# 
# $Sepal.Width
# [1] 3.5 3.0 3.2 3.1 3.6 3.9
# 
# $Petal.Length
# [1] 1.4 1.4 1.3 1.5 1.4 1.7
# 
# $Petal.Width
# [1] 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.4
# 
# $Species
# [1] setosa setosa setosa setosa setosa setosa
# Levels: setosa versicolor virginica
#

Further Resources & Related Tutorials

Please find some additional R tutorials on topics such as data conversion, character strings, and factors in the following list.

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