[R] cat() and print()

An essential difference between cat and print is the class of the object they return. This difference has practical consequences for what you can do with the returned object.

print returns a character vector:

> print(paste("a", 100* 1:3))

 "a 100" "a 200" "a 300"

> class(print(paste("a", 100* 1:3)))

"a 100" "a 200" "a 300"

 "character"

cat returns an object of class NULL:

> cat(paste("a", 100* 1:3))

a 100 a 200 a 300

> class(cat(paste("a", 100* 1:3)))

a 100 a 200 a 300

"NULL"