Choosing between qplot() and ggplot() in ggplot2 [closed]

Question

I'm starting to use the great ggplot2 package for plotting in R, and one of the first things I ask myself before each plot is "well, will I use qplot or ggplot ?"

I understand that qplot provides a simpler syntax while ggplot allows maximum features and flexibility, but what is the function you use the most, and do you have some precise use cases for each one ? Do you use mostly qplot and ggplot only for complex plots, or do you use ggplot everytime ?

Thanks for your feedback !

Answer 1

As for me, if both qplot and ggplot are available, the criterion depends on whether data is stored in data.frame or separate variables.

x<-1:10 y<-rnorm(10)  qplot(x,y, geom="line") # I will use this ggplot(data.frame(x,y), aes(x,y)) + geom_line() # verbose  d <- data.frame(x, y)  qplot(x, y, data=d, geom="line")  ggplot(d, aes(x,y)) + geom_line() # I will use this 

Of course, more complex plots require ggplot(), and I usually store data in data.frame, so in my experience, I rarely use qplot.

And it sounds good to always use ggplot(). While qplot saves typing, you lose a lot of functionalities.