Google Data Analytics Professional Certification Practice Test

Which operator in R is specifically used for chaining multiple operations together?

1. %>% operator

2. -> operator

3. := operator

4. + operator

The correct answer is: %>% operator

The operator used in R for chaining multiple operations together is the pipe operator, represented as %>%. This operator allows users to take the output of one function and pass it directly as input to another function in a clear and concise manner. This creates a pipeline of operations that enhances code readability and efficiency by avoiding the need to nest multiple function calls, which can become complicated and cumbersome. For example, if you have a series of data transformation steps, using the pipe operator allows you to write them sequentially, such as starting with a data frame, filtering it, modifying some columns, and then summarizing the results, all in a straightforward line without creating intermediate variables for each step. This approach is particularly beneficial in data analysis and manipulation tasks, as it provides a cleaner way to represent the workflow. The other operators mentioned serve different purposes: the assignment operator (->) is used to assign values to variables, the assignment operator for named arguments (:=) is used primarily within the context of data tables or certain package functions to assign values to columns, and the addition operator (+) is simply used for numerical addition. Each of these operators is important in its own right but does not facilitate the straightforward chaining of functions like the pipe operator does.