bigmemory

bigmemory is an R package designed to handle massive matrices that exceed available RAM by utilizing shared memory and memory-mapped files. It provides an S4 class interface similar to native R matrices, enabling efficient data manipulation and analysis for large datasets.

Key Features

• Shared Memory Matrices — Allocates matrices to shared memory by default, allowing multiple R processes to access the same data efficiently.
• Memory-Mapped Files — Supports memory-mapped files for storing matrices on disk, enabling work with datasets larger than RAM.
• Parallel Environment Support — Facilitates use in parallel computing environments, offering substantial speed and memory efficiencies.
• Familiar Interface — Provides an S4 class ('big.matrix') with an interface similar to native R matrices, easing adoption.
• Extensible Framework — Includes a C++ framework for developing new tools compatible with both 'big.matrix' and native 'matrix' objects.

Philosophy

bigmemory focuses on enabling efficient analysis of massive datasets in R by leveraging shared memory and memory-mapped files, with an interface designed to feel familiar to R users.