Designing Tidy R Functions

Tidy R Function Design

Design R functions for humans, not computers. Optimize for cognitive load reduction, predictability, and composability. These principles apply to any R code, not just tidyverse packages.

Core principle: The less a user needs to think to use your function correctly, the better.

Quick Reference

Function Naming

Use Verbs in Imperative Mood

# Good: imperative verbs
mutate()
filter()
summarize()

# Exception: noun-y builders
geom_point()
recipe()

Prefer Prefixes Over Suffixes

Prefixes enable autocomplete discovery:

# Good: common prefix groups related functions
str_detect(), str_replace(), str_extract()
read_csv(), read_tsv(), read_delim()

# Suffixes for variations on a theme
map_int(), map_chr(), map_dbl()

Length Inversely Proportional to Frequency

# Very frequent -> short
c(), n(), df

# Less frequent -> descriptive
create_bootstrap_samples()
validate_model_specification()

Argument Design

Most Important Arguments First

# Good: transformed data first (pipe-friendly)
str_replace(string, pattern, replacement)
left_join(x, y, by)

# Output-determining args early
read_csv(file, col_types, col_names)

Required Arguments Have No Defaults

# Good: required args have no defaults
my_function <- function(data, columns, method = "default") {
  # data and columns required, method optional
}

# Bad: everything has defaults
my_function <- function(data = NULL, columns = NULL, method = "default")

Dots Position Matters

Place ... between required and optional arguments:

# Good: forces explicit naming of optional args
my_function <- function(x, y, ..., verbose = FALSE, na.rm = TRUE) {
  # x, y required; anything after ... must be named
}

Keep Defaults Short

Use NULL for complex defaults, compute in body:

# Good: NULL signals "computed if not provided"
my_function <- function(x, weights = NULL) {
  weights <- weights %||% rep(1, length(x))
}

# Bad: complex default in signature
my_function <- function(x, weights = rep(1, length(x)))

Enumerate String Options

Use arg_match() with character vector defaults:

my_function <- function(x, method = c("fast", "accurate", "balanced")) {
  method <- rlang::arg_match(method)
  # method is now validated, first value is default
}

Standardize Common Argument Names

Output Patterns

Type Stability

Output type should be predictable from input types, not values:

# Bad: type depends on VALUE
ifelse(TRUE, 1L, 2)   # returns integer
ifelse(FALSE, 1L, 2)  # returns double

# Good: type predictable from input types
dplyr::if_else(TRUE, 1L, 2L)   # always integer
dplyr::if_else(FALSE, 1L, 2L)  # always integer

Tibble Predictions

For modeling functions, predictions should return tibbles:

• Same number of rows as input
• Same row order as input
• Standardized column names: .pred, .pred_class, .pred_lower

# Good prediction output
predict(model, new_data)
#> # A tibble: 100 x 1
#>     .pred
#>     <dbl>
#>  1   3.45
#>  2   2.89

Side-Effect Functions Return Invisibly

Functions called for side effects should return the first argument invisibly:

# Good: enables piping
write_csv <- function(x, file, ...) {
  # write the file
  invisible(x)
}

# Enables this pattern:
data |>
  write_csv("backup.csv") |>
  filter(important) |>
  write_csv("filtered.csv")

Side Effects

Partition Side Effects from Computation

# Bad: computation mixed with side effects
analyze <- function(x) {
  result <- expensive_computation(x)
  cat("Computed result:", result, "\n")  # side effect buried
  options(my_option = result)            # hidden state change
  result
}

# Good: side effects isolated
analyze <- function(x, verbose = FALSE) {
  result <- expensive_computation(x)
  if (verbose) cli::cli_inform("Computed result: {result}")
  result
}

Make Side Effects Easy to Undo

Functions that change global state should return previous values:

# Good: returns previous value for restoration
old <- options(digits = 3)
# ... do work ...
options(old)  # restore

Strategy Patterns

Avoid Boolean Strategy Flags

# Bad: boolean flags for strategies
grepl(pattern, x, perl = TRUE, fixed = FALSE, ignore.case = TRUE)
# Which combinations are valid? What does perl + fixed mean?

# Good: strategy objects
str_detect(x, regex(pattern, ignore_case = TRUE))
str_detect(x, fixed(pattern))

Strategy Objects for Complex Options

When strategies need different arguments, create helper functions:

# Strategy helpers with strategy-specific arguments
regex <- function(pattern, ignore_case = FALSE, multiline = FALSE) {
  structure(list(pattern = pattern, ignore_case = ignore_case,
                 multiline = multiline), class = "regex")
}

fixed <- function(pattern) {
  structure(list(pattern = pattern), class = "fixed")
}

# Main function accepts strategy objects
str_detect <- function(string, pattern) {
  if (inherits(pattern, "regex")) {
    # regex-specific handling
  } else if (inherits(pattern, "fixed")) {
    # fixed-specific handling
  }
}

Explicit Over Implicit

Avoid Global Option Dependencies

# Bad: behavior depends on global option
my_function <- function(x) {
  na_action <- getOption("na.action")  # implicit input
  # ...
}

# Good: explicit argument with informative default
my_function <- function(x, na_action = na.omit) {
  # ...
}

Inform Users of Important Defaults

When defaults matter, tell the user:

my_function <- function(x, tz = Sys.timezone()) {
  if (missing(tz)) {
    cli::cli_inform("Using timezone: {.val {tz}}")
  }
  # ...
}

Model Object Design

Minimize Stored Data

# Bad: stores entire training set
model$training_data <- training_set  # memory bloat

# Good: store only what's needed for prediction
model$coefficients <- coefs
model$levels <- factor_levels

Never Save Call Objects

Call objects can embed entire datasets and environments:

# Bad: call may contain data
model$call <- match.call()

# Good: omit call or store only essential info

Use Proper S3 Constructors

# Constructor (internal)
new_my_model <- function(coefficients, levels) {
  structure(
    list(coefficients = coefficients, levels = levels),
    class = "my_model"
  )
}

# Validator (internal)
validate_my_model <- function(x) {
  stopifnot(is.numeric(x$coefficients))
  x
}

# Helper (user-facing)
my_model <- function(...) {
  result <- new_my_model(...)
  validate_my_model(result)
}

Matrix Subsetting Discipline

Always preserve matrix structure:

# Bad: may return vector
X[, 1]

# Good: always returns matrix
X[, 1, drop = FALSE]

Design Review Checklist

When reviewing R function design:

• Function names are verbs in imperative mood (or nouns for builders)
• Related functions share a prefix
• Most important arguments come first
• Primary data is first argument (pipe-friendly)
• Required arguments have no defaults
• ... comes between required and optional arguments
• String options use arg_match() with enumerated defaults
• Output type is predictable from input types
• Side-effect functions return input invisibly
• No hidden dependencies on global options or locale
• Strategy variations use objects, not boolean flags
• Model objects don't store training data or calls
• Matrix subsetting uses drop = FALSE

Resources

• Tidy Design Principles
• Tidymodels Implementation Principles
• Advanced R: S3