readr

Readr is an R package for fast and friendly reading of rectangular data files. It is part of the tidyverse and is designed to import data from delimited text files into R with consistent behavior. Readr focuses on CSVs, TSVs, and other delimiter-based formats, returning tidy data frames known as tibbles.

Key features include fast parsers, automatic column type inference by default, and explicit options to control types with cols(). It supports missing values, multiple encodings, and locale-aware parsing (such as decimal and thousands separators). Users can skip lines, read a subset with n_max, and handle quoted fields. Readr can read from local files or URLs and provides progress indicators for large files.

Usage examples: library(readr); df <- read_csv("data.csv"); df2 <- read_delim("data.txt", delim = "|"). Read_csv2("data.csv") uses semicolon delimiters and comma decimals in locales that require them. For precise control, use col_types = cols(col_character(), col_double(), col_date()) and locale(encoding = "UTF-8"). These options help ensure correct interpretation of each column and text encoding.

Return value and integration: readr returns a tibble, a modern data frame that prints compactly and integrates with other tidyverse tools such as dplyr. Readr’s outputs are compatible with as.data.frame if a base R data frame is required. The package is maintained as part of the tidyverse ecosystem, emphasizing consistent, user-friendly data import workflows.