[cwyers]

Even if you ignore the tidyverse, the example code for "roll your own linear regressions by hand" uses the R6 object system, which is... not even one of the two popular object systems for R (which are S3 and S4). No beginner needs to learn how to write classes in R.

[zelda_1]

`no beginner needs to learn how to write classes in R`. a) using classes properly is great for all level R users; b) a major reason that classes are not widely used (for beginners) is that S3/S4 are not easy to follow. R6 provides a natural and clear way to understand and write classes (especially for beginners).

[cwyers]

Using classes at all is unnecessary for most R users. R is really, to the extent that paradigms matter to the average R user at all (which is: not much) a functional-first language. The idiomatic way to deal with the things you would use classes for is to use functions and closures. There are people who need objects in R, which is why R has object systems available, but it is of no help to a beginner to know them -- it doesn't help them to interact with the code they are going to see, and they don't have the background to understand why you would use classes instead of functions.