SaveRDS

saveRDS is a function in base R used to serialize a single R object to a file. The resulting file contains a binary representation of the object that can be read back into R with readRDS. Unlike save, which writes multiple objects to a single file, saveRDS stores only one object and the saved file does not retain the name of the object; when it is read back, the object must be assigned to a name by the user.

Usage and key arguments:

- object: the R object to serialize.

- file: the path to the file where the object will be saved.

- compress: logical or integer indicating whether and how to compress the file. TRUE (the default) uses compression; FALSE saves uncompressed; an integer 1-9 requests varying levels of compression.

- ascii: logical; if TRUE, writes in ASCII text mode (rarely used in modern workflows).

- version: numeric value specifying the serialization format; 2 is the common default and is compatible with typical R sessions; other values may be used for compatibility with specific environments.

Reading back the object:

- readRDS(file) reads the file produced by saveRDS and returns the serialized object. The returned object can be assigned to a name by the caller (for example, obj <- readRDS("path/to/file.rds")).

Notes:

- saveRDS/readRDS are convenient for persisting a single object, such as a model or a data frame, between R sessions or projects.

- The format is binary and is intended for R-to-R usage; cross-language interoperability is limited compared to plain text formats.

- The object’s attributes and class information are preserved by serialization, enabling faithful reconstruction when read.