Question

How can I differentiate between lapply and sapply

Answer 1

• If the programmers want the output to be a data frame or a vector, then sapply function is used whereas if a programmer wants the output to be a list then lapply is used. 
• There is one more function known as vapply which is preferred over sapply, as vapply allows the programmer to specify the output type. 
• The disadvantage of using vapply is that it is difficult to be implemented and more verbose.