methods-package           package:methods           R Documentation

_F_o_r_m_a_l _M_e_t_h_o_d_s _a_n_d _C_l_a_s_s_e_s

_D_e_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_o_n:

     Formally defined methods and classes for R objects, plus other
     programming tools, as described in the references.

_D_e_t_a_i_l_s:

     This package provides the "S4" or  "S version 4"  approach to
     methods and classes in a functional language.

     For a complete list of functions and classes, use
     'library(help="methods")'.

_A_u_t_h_o_r(_s):

     R Development Core Team

     Maintainer: R Core Team R-core@r-project.org

_R_e_f_e_r_e_n_c_e_s:

     The R package 'methods' implements, with a few exceptions, the
     programming interface for classes and methods in the book
     _Programming with Data_ (John M. Chambers, Springer, 1998), in
     particular sections 1.6, 2.7, 2.8, and chapters 7 and 8.

     While the programming interface for the methods package follows
     the reference, the R software is an original implementation, so
     details in the reference that reflect the S4 implementation may
     appear differently in R.  Also, there are extensions to the
     programming interface developed more recently than the reference. 
     For a discussion of details see '?Methods' and the links from that
     documentation.

