distr6: R6 Object-Oriented Probability Distributions Interface in R
This provides R users with a scalable, efficient interface for probability distribution modeling, though it is an incremental improvement over existing tools.
The authors developed distr6, an R package providing an object-oriented interface for probability distributions that implements over 50 distributions with core statistical methods and supports distribution compositions like truncation and mixtures. They present the package's functionality, demonstrate key use cases, and review object-oriented programming paradigms in R.
distr6 is an object-oriented (OO) probability distributions interface leveraging the extensibility and scalability of R6, and the speed and efficiency of Rcpp. Over 50 probability distributions are currently implemented in the package with `core' methods including density, distribution, and generating functions, and more `exotic' ones including hazards and distribution function anti-derivatives. In addition to simple distributions, distr6 supports compositions such as truncation, mixtures, and product distributions. This paper presents the core functionality of the package and demonstrates examples for key use-cases. In addition this paper provides a critical review of the object-oriented programming paradigms in R and describes some novel implementations for design patterns and core object-oriented features introduced by the package for supporting distr6 components.