[R] as(, "numeric") vs as.numeric()

[Erik Wright]

Hi everyone,

Could someone please explain this R behavior to me:

> typeof(as.numeric(1:10))
[1] "double"
> typeof(as(1:10, "numeric"))
[1] "integer"

I expected "double" in both cases.  In the help for the "as" function it says:

"Methods are pre-defined for coercing any object to one of the basic datatypes. For example, as(x, "numeric") uses the existing as.numeric function."

Thanks,
Erik