joiningsuchR

JoiningsuchR is a hypothetical open-source library concept for the R programming language that aims to standardize and simplify join operations across common data structures such as data frames, data tables, and tibble-like objects. The project envisions a single, coherent API that abstracts away the details of different backends while preserving the semantic integrity of join types.

The main goal of joiningsuchR is to reduce friction when combining datasets from diverse sources by providing consistent behavior, naming, and error messages. It emphasizes explicit control over join semantics, robust handling of missing values, and predictable results across varied data shapes. By supporting multi-key joins, expression-based key specification, and interoperability with existing R data structures, the concept seeks to improve reproducibility and readability in data preparation workflows.

Key features attributed to joiningsuchR include support for common join types (inner, left, right, full), anti and semi joins, multi-key and expression-based joins, and automatic resolution of column name conflicts with clear suffixing rules. The design favors a minimal and expressive API, with clear failure modes and informative diagnostics. Performance considerations are addressed through backend-agnostic planning, with potential optimizations that leverage the strengths of underlying data representations.

In practice, a typical join would involve two datasets, a specification of join keys, and a chosen join type, with the library responsible for consistent NA handling, key matching, and result construction. See also related concepts such as relational join theory, SQL JOIN, base R merge, dplyr joins, and data.table merge.