What is the distinction between the Boolean operators && and & in R, as well as between || and |?

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The Boolean operators && and || in R are referred to as short-circuit operators as they can skip evaluating a subsequent expression based on the outcome of the first expression.

The && operator evaluates the first expression, and if it is FALSE, it discontinues evaluating the remaining expressions, making it sort of like an "and" operator for logical operations.

For instance, in the expression E1 && E2, E2 is evaluated only if E1 is TRUE.

The & operator, on the other hand, operates on vectors (i.e., element-wise) and returns the comparison of the corresponding vector elements.

For example, in the expression E1 & E2, R evaluates E1 and E2 and returns a vector of the same length as E1 and E2.

Similarly, the || operator stops evaluating the subsequent expression if the first expression is TRUE.

For instance, in the expression E1 || E2, E2 is evaluated only if E1 is FALSE.

The | operator, like &, operates on vectors and returns the element-wise comparison of the corresponding vector elements.

For example, in the expression E1 | E2, R evaluates E1 and E2, and returns a vector of the same length as E1 and E2.