An Ode to the Unsung Functions of Purrr

When most people think of the purrr package they think of map, or maybe flatten if they are really into lists. But, I am here to make the case, that keep and discard are the most under valued functions in purrr.

The origin of my love for keep and discard started about two years ago, when I was still somewhat new to the tidyverse. I was writing an internal package and I needed to “filter a vector”. It seemed strange to me there wasn’t an obvious solution for this problem; filter is one of the founding functions of dplry, how could it not exist!? At this point, while I knew how to do it in base R, I felt the uncompromising need of the newly converted, to write exclusively in the tidyverse. So, after asking a few friends, I got to googling and still couldn’t find anything. And, as is the way, I stumbled upon keep and discard while looking through the documentation for a totally different question. Which, has since lead me to my current believe thatnkeep and discard are the most unsung functions in purrr.

Keep and discard dramatically increase the readability of code, without sacrificing speed. All you need to do is to use a function that returns a vector of booleans, i.e. is.na. This can be a function you have created or a function from some other package. Here I created function to test if a value is even or not.

is_even <- function(x){
  x %% 2 == 0 
}

The keep function keeps all TRUE elements and discard removes all TRUE elements from the vector.

vec <- c(1:10)
#Returns only even numbers
vec %>% keep(is_even)
## [1]  2  4  6  8 10
#Returns only odd numbers
vec %>% discard(is_even)
## [1] 1 3 5 7 9

To do the same thing in base R you would need to call vec twice, which can make it difficult to read.

# Base method
vec[is_even(vec)]
## [1]  2  4  6  8 10

The other great thing about about keep and discard is they work just as well with lists as vectors. These functions paired with an anonymous function is super helpful when sorting through complex lists.

dummy_list <- list(a = mtcars, b = iris, c = NULL)

head(dummy_list)
## $a
##                      mpg cyl  disp  hp drat    wt  qsec vs am gear carb
## Mazda RX4           21.0   6 160.0 110 3.90 2.620 16.46  0  1    4    4
## Mazda RX4 Wag       21.0   6 160.0 110 3.90 2.875 17.02  0  1    4    4
## Datsun 710          22.8   4 108.0  93 3.85 2.320 18.61  1  1    4    1
## Hornet 4 Drive      21.4   6 258.0 110 3.08 3.215 19.44  1  0    3    1
## Hornet Sportabout   18.7   8 360.0 175 3.15 3.440 17.02  0  0    3    2
## Valiant             18.1   6 225.0 105 2.76 3.460 20.22  1  0    3    1
## Duster 360          14.3   8 360.0 245 3.21 3.570 15.84  0  0    3    4
## Merc 240D           24.4   4 146.7  62 3.69 3.190 20.00  1  0    4    2
## Merc 230            22.8   4 140.8  95 3.92 3.150 22.90  1  0    4    2
## Merc 280            19.2   6 167.6 123 3.92 3.440 18.30  1  0    4    4
## Merc 280C           17.8   6 167.6 123 3.92 3.440 18.90  1  0    4    4
## Merc 450SE          16.4   8 275.8 180 3.07 4.070 17.40  0  0    3    3
## Merc 450SL          17.3   8 275.8 180 3.07 3.730 17.60  0  0    3    3
## Merc 450SLC         15.2   8 275.8 180 3.07 3.780 18.00  0  0    3    3
## Cadillac Fleetwood  10.4   8 472.0 205 2.93 5.250 17.98  0  0    3    4
## Lincoln Continental 10.4   8 460.0 215 3.00 5.424 17.82  0  0    3    4
## Chrysler Imperial   14.7   8 440.0 230 3.23 5.345 17.42  0  0    3    4
## Fiat 128            32.4   4  78.7  66 4.08 2.200 19.47  1  1    4    1
## Honda Civic         30.4   4  75.7  52 4.93 1.615 18.52  1  1    4    2
## Toyota Corolla      33.9   4  71.1  65 4.22 1.835 19.90  1  1    4    1
## Toyota Corona       21.5   4 120.1  97 3.70 2.465 20.01  1  0    3    1
## Dodge Challenger    15.5   8 318.0 150 2.76 3.520 16.87  0  0    3    2
## AMC Javelin         15.2   8 304.0 150 3.15 3.435 17.30  0  0    3    2
## Camaro Z28          13.3   8 350.0 245 3.73 3.840 15.41  0  0    3    4
## Pontiac Firebird    19.2   8 400.0 175 3.08 3.845 17.05  0  0    3    2
## Fiat X1-9           27.3   4  79.0  66 4.08 1.935 18.90  1  1    4    1
## Porsche 914-2       26.0   4 120.3  91 4.43 2.140 16.70  0  1    5    2
## Lotus Europa        30.4   4  95.1 113 3.77 1.513 16.90  1  1    5    2
## Ford Pantera L      15.8   8 351.0 264 4.22 3.170 14.50  0  1    5    4
## Ferrari Dino        19.7   6 145.0 175 3.62 2.770 15.50  0  1    5    6
## Maserati Bora       15.0   8 301.0 335 3.54 3.570 14.60  0  1    5    8
## Volvo 142E          21.4   4 121.0 109 4.11 2.780 18.60  1  1    4    2
## 
## $b
##     Sepal.Length Sepal.Width Petal.Length Petal.Width    Species
## 1            5.1         3.5          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 2            4.9         3.0          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 3            4.7         3.2          1.3         0.2     setosa
## 4            4.6         3.1          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 5            5.0         3.6          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 6            5.4         3.9          1.7         0.4     setosa
## 7            4.6         3.4          1.4         0.3     setosa
## 8            5.0         3.4          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 9            4.4         2.9          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 10           4.9         3.1          1.5         0.1     setosa
## 11           5.4         3.7          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 12           4.8         3.4          1.6         0.2     setosa
## 13           4.8         3.0          1.4         0.1     setosa
## 14           4.3         3.0          1.1         0.1     setosa
## 15           5.8         4.0          1.2         0.2     setosa
## 16           5.7         4.4          1.5         0.4     setosa
## 17           5.4         3.9          1.3         0.4     setosa
## 18           5.1         3.5          1.4         0.3     setosa
## 19           5.7         3.8          1.7         0.3     setosa
## 20           5.1         3.8          1.5         0.3     setosa
## 21           5.4         3.4          1.7         0.2     setosa
## 22           5.1         3.7          1.5         0.4     setosa
## 23           4.6         3.6          1.0         0.2     setosa
## 24           5.1         3.3          1.7         0.5     setosa
## 25           4.8         3.4          1.9         0.2     setosa
## 26           5.0         3.0          1.6         0.2     setosa
## 27           5.0         3.4          1.6         0.4     setosa
## 28           5.2         3.5          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 29           5.2         3.4          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 30           4.7         3.2          1.6         0.2     setosa
## 31           4.8         3.1          1.6         0.2     setosa
## 32           5.4         3.4          1.5         0.4     setosa
## 33           5.2         4.1          1.5         0.1     setosa
## 34           5.5         4.2          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 35           4.9         3.1          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 36           5.0         3.2          1.2         0.2     setosa
## 37           5.5         3.5          1.3         0.2     setosa
## 38           4.9         3.6          1.4         0.1     setosa
## 39           4.4         3.0          1.3         0.2     setosa
## 40           5.1         3.4          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 41           5.0         3.5          1.3         0.3     setosa
## 42           4.5         2.3          1.3         0.3     setosa
## 43           4.4         3.2          1.3         0.2     setosa
## 44           5.0         3.5          1.6         0.6     setosa
## 45           5.1         3.8          1.9         0.4     setosa
## 46           4.8         3.0          1.4         0.3     setosa
## 47           5.1         3.8          1.6         0.2     setosa
## 48           4.6         3.2          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 49           5.3         3.7          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 50           5.0         3.3          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 51           7.0         3.2          4.7         1.4 versicolor
## 52           6.4         3.2          4.5         1.5 versicolor
## 53           6.9         3.1          4.9         1.5 versicolor
## 54           5.5         2.3          4.0         1.3 versicolor
## 55           6.5         2.8          4.6         1.5 versicolor
## 56           5.7         2.8          4.5         1.3 versicolor
## 57           6.3         3.3          4.7         1.6 versicolor
## 58           4.9         2.4          3.3         1.0 versicolor
## 59           6.6         2.9          4.6         1.3 versicolor
## 60           5.2         2.7          3.9         1.4 versicolor
## 61           5.0         2.0          3.5         1.0 versicolor
## 62           5.9         3.0          4.2         1.5 versicolor
## 63           6.0         2.2          4.0         1.0 versicolor
## 64           6.1         2.9          4.7         1.4 versicolor
## 65           5.6         2.9          3.6         1.3 versicolor
## 66           6.7         3.1          4.4         1.4 versicolor
## 67           5.6         3.0          4.5         1.5 versicolor
## 68           5.8         2.7          4.1         1.0 versicolor
## 69           6.2         2.2          4.5         1.5 versicolor
## 70           5.6         2.5          3.9         1.1 versicolor
## 71           5.9         3.2          4.8         1.8 versicolor
## 72           6.1         2.8          4.0         1.3 versicolor
## 73           6.3         2.5          4.9         1.5 versicolor
## 74           6.1         2.8          4.7         1.2 versicolor
## 75           6.4         2.9          4.3         1.3 versicolor
## 76           6.6         3.0          4.4         1.4 versicolor
## 77           6.8         2.8          4.8         1.4 versicolor
## 78           6.7         3.0          5.0         1.7 versicolor
## 79           6.0         2.9          4.5         1.5 versicolor
## 80           5.7         2.6          3.5         1.0 versicolor
## 81           5.5         2.4          3.8         1.1 versicolor
## 82           5.5         2.4          3.7         1.0 versicolor
## 83           5.8         2.7          3.9         1.2 versicolor
## 84           6.0         2.7          5.1         1.6 versicolor
## 85           5.4         3.0          4.5         1.5 versicolor
## 86           6.0         3.4          4.5         1.6 versicolor
## 87           6.7         3.1          4.7         1.5 versicolor
## 88           6.3         2.3          4.4         1.3 versicolor
## 89           5.6         3.0          4.1         1.3 versicolor
## 90           5.5         2.5          4.0         1.3 versicolor
## 91           5.5         2.6          4.4         1.2 versicolor
## 92           6.1         3.0          4.6         1.4 versicolor
## 93           5.8         2.6          4.0         1.2 versicolor
## 94           5.0         2.3          3.3         1.0 versicolor
## 95           5.6         2.7          4.2         1.3 versicolor
## 96           5.7         3.0          4.2         1.2 versicolor
## 97           5.7         2.9          4.2         1.3 versicolor
## 98           6.2         2.9          4.3         1.3 versicolor
## 99           5.1         2.5          3.0         1.1 versicolor
## 100          5.7         2.8          4.1         1.3 versicolor
## 101          6.3         3.3          6.0         2.5  virginica
## 102          5.8         2.7          5.1         1.9  virginica
## 103          7.1         3.0          5.9         2.1  virginica
## 104          6.3         2.9          5.6         1.8  virginica
## 105          6.5         3.0          5.8         2.2  virginica
## 106          7.6         3.0          6.6         2.1  virginica
## 107          4.9         2.5          4.5         1.7  virginica
## 108          7.3         2.9          6.3         1.8  virginica
## 109          6.7         2.5          5.8         1.8  virginica
## 110          7.2         3.6          6.1         2.5  virginica
## 111          6.5         3.2          5.1         2.0  virginica
## 112          6.4         2.7          5.3         1.9  virginica
## 113          6.8         3.0          5.5         2.1  virginica
## 114          5.7         2.5          5.0         2.0  virginica
## 115          5.8         2.8          5.1         2.4  virginica
## 116          6.4         3.2          5.3         2.3  virginica
## 117          6.5         3.0          5.5         1.8  virginica
## 118          7.7         3.8          6.7         2.2  virginica
## 119          7.7         2.6          6.9         2.3  virginica
## 120          6.0         2.2          5.0         1.5  virginica
## 121          6.9         3.2          5.7         2.3  virginica
## 122          5.6         2.8          4.9         2.0  virginica
## 123          7.7         2.8          6.7         2.0  virginica
## 124          6.3         2.7          4.9         1.8  virginica
## 125          6.7         3.3          5.7         2.1  virginica
## 126          7.2         3.2          6.0         1.8  virginica
## 127          6.2         2.8          4.8         1.8  virginica
## 128          6.1         3.0          4.9         1.8  virginica
## 129          6.4         2.8          5.6         2.1  virginica
## 130          7.2         3.0          5.8         1.6  virginica
## 131          7.4         2.8          6.1         1.9  virginica
## 132          7.9         3.8          6.4         2.0  virginica
## 133          6.4         2.8          5.6         2.2  virginica
## 134          6.3         2.8          5.1         1.5  virginica
## 135          6.1         2.6          5.6         1.4  virginica
## 136          7.7         3.0          6.1         2.3  virginica
## 137          6.3         3.4          5.6         2.4  virginica
## 138          6.4         3.1          5.5         1.8  virginica
## 139          6.0         3.0          4.8         1.8  virginica
## 140          6.9         3.1          5.4         2.1  virginica
## 141          6.7         3.1          5.6         2.4  virginica
## 142          6.9         3.1          5.1         2.3  virginica
## 143          5.8         2.7          5.1         1.9  virginica
## 144          6.8         3.2          5.9         2.3  virginica
## 145          6.7         3.3          5.7         2.5  virginica
## 146          6.7         3.0          5.2         2.3  virginica
## 147          6.3         2.5          5.0         1.9  virginica
## 148          6.5         3.0          5.2         2.0  virginica
## 149          6.2         3.4          5.4         2.3  virginica
## 150          5.9         3.0          5.1         1.8  virginica
## 
## $c
## NULL

In this dummy example list, I have 2 different datasets and a null input. If I wanted to remove the null value I can just use discard like I would on a vector.

dummy_list %>% discard(is.null) %>% head()
## $a
##                      mpg cyl  disp  hp drat    wt  qsec vs am gear carb
## Mazda RX4           21.0   6 160.0 110 3.90 2.620 16.46  0  1    4    4
## Mazda RX4 Wag       21.0   6 160.0 110 3.90 2.875 17.02  0  1    4    4
## Datsun 710          22.8   4 108.0  93 3.85 2.320 18.61  1  1    4    1
## Hornet 4 Drive      21.4   6 258.0 110 3.08 3.215 19.44  1  0    3    1
## Hornet Sportabout   18.7   8 360.0 175 3.15 3.440 17.02  0  0    3    2
## Valiant             18.1   6 225.0 105 2.76 3.460 20.22  1  0    3    1
## Duster 360          14.3   8 360.0 245 3.21 3.570 15.84  0  0    3    4
## Merc 240D           24.4   4 146.7  62 3.69 3.190 20.00  1  0    4    2
## Merc 230            22.8   4 140.8  95 3.92 3.150 22.90  1  0    4    2
## Merc 280            19.2   6 167.6 123 3.92 3.440 18.30  1  0    4    4
## Merc 280C           17.8   6 167.6 123 3.92 3.440 18.90  1  0    4    4
## Merc 450SE          16.4   8 275.8 180 3.07 4.070 17.40  0  0    3    3
## Merc 450SL          17.3   8 275.8 180 3.07 3.730 17.60  0  0    3    3
## Merc 450SLC         15.2   8 275.8 180 3.07 3.780 18.00  0  0    3    3
## Cadillac Fleetwood  10.4   8 472.0 205 2.93 5.250 17.98  0  0    3    4
## Lincoln Continental 10.4   8 460.0 215 3.00 5.424 17.82  0  0    3    4
## Chrysler Imperial   14.7   8 440.0 230 3.23 5.345 17.42  0  0    3    4
## Fiat 128            32.4   4  78.7  66 4.08 2.200 19.47  1  1    4    1
## Honda Civic         30.4   4  75.7  52 4.93 1.615 18.52  1  1    4    2
## Toyota Corolla      33.9   4  71.1  65 4.22 1.835 19.90  1  1    4    1
## Toyota Corona       21.5   4 120.1  97 3.70 2.465 20.01  1  0    3    1
## Dodge Challenger    15.5   8 318.0 150 2.76 3.520 16.87  0  0    3    2
## AMC Javelin         15.2   8 304.0 150 3.15 3.435 17.30  0  0    3    2
## Camaro Z28          13.3   8 350.0 245 3.73 3.840 15.41  0  0    3    4
## Pontiac Firebird    19.2   8 400.0 175 3.08 3.845 17.05  0  0    3    2
## Fiat X1-9           27.3   4  79.0  66 4.08 1.935 18.90  1  1    4    1
## Porsche 914-2       26.0   4 120.3  91 4.43 2.140 16.70  0  1    5    2
## Lotus Europa        30.4   4  95.1 113 3.77 1.513 16.90  1  1    5    2
## Ford Pantera L      15.8   8 351.0 264 4.22 3.170 14.50  0  1    5    4
## Ferrari Dino        19.7   6 145.0 175 3.62 2.770 15.50  0  1    5    6
## Maserati Bora       15.0   8 301.0 335 3.54 3.570 14.60  0  1    5    8
## Volvo 142E          21.4   4 121.0 109 4.11 2.780 18.60  1  1    4    2
## 
## $b
##     Sepal.Length Sepal.Width Petal.Length Petal.Width    Species
## 1            5.1         3.5          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 2            4.9         3.0          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 3            4.7         3.2          1.3         0.2     setosa
## 4            4.6         3.1          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 5            5.0         3.6          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 6            5.4         3.9          1.7         0.4     setosa
## 7            4.6         3.4          1.4         0.3     setosa
## 8            5.0         3.4          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 9            4.4         2.9          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 10           4.9         3.1          1.5         0.1     setosa
## 11           5.4         3.7          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 12           4.8         3.4          1.6         0.2     setosa
## 13           4.8         3.0          1.4         0.1     setosa
## 14           4.3         3.0          1.1         0.1     setosa
## 15           5.8         4.0          1.2         0.2     setosa
## 16           5.7         4.4          1.5         0.4     setosa
## 17           5.4         3.9          1.3         0.4     setosa
## 18           5.1         3.5          1.4         0.3     setosa
## 19           5.7         3.8          1.7         0.3     setosa
## 20           5.1         3.8          1.5         0.3     setosa
## 21           5.4         3.4          1.7         0.2     setosa
## 22           5.1         3.7          1.5         0.4     setosa
## 23           4.6         3.6          1.0         0.2     setosa
## 24           5.1         3.3          1.7         0.5     setosa
## 25           4.8         3.4          1.9         0.2     setosa
## 26           5.0         3.0          1.6         0.2     setosa
## 27           5.0         3.4          1.6         0.4     setosa
## 28           5.2         3.5          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 29           5.2         3.4          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 30           4.7         3.2          1.6         0.2     setosa
## 31           4.8         3.1          1.6         0.2     setosa
## 32           5.4         3.4          1.5         0.4     setosa
## 33           5.2         4.1          1.5         0.1     setosa
## 34           5.5         4.2          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 35           4.9         3.1          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 36           5.0         3.2          1.2         0.2     setosa
## 37           5.5         3.5          1.3         0.2     setosa
## 38           4.9         3.6          1.4         0.1     setosa
## 39           4.4         3.0          1.3         0.2     setosa
## 40           5.1         3.4          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 41           5.0         3.5          1.3         0.3     setosa
## 42           4.5         2.3          1.3         0.3     setosa
## 43           4.4         3.2          1.3         0.2     setosa
## 44           5.0         3.5          1.6         0.6     setosa
## 45           5.1         3.8          1.9         0.4     setosa
## 46           4.8         3.0          1.4         0.3     setosa
## 47           5.1         3.8          1.6         0.2     setosa
## 48           4.6         3.2          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 49           5.3         3.7          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 50           5.0         3.3          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 51           7.0         3.2          4.7         1.4 versicolor
## 52           6.4         3.2          4.5         1.5 versicolor
## 53           6.9         3.1          4.9         1.5 versicolor
## 54           5.5         2.3          4.0         1.3 versicolor
## 55           6.5         2.8          4.6         1.5 versicolor
## 56           5.7         2.8          4.5         1.3 versicolor
## 57           6.3         3.3          4.7         1.6 versicolor
## 58           4.9         2.4          3.3         1.0 versicolor
## 59           6.6         2.9          4.6         1.3 versicolor
## 60           5.2         2.7          3.9         1.4 versicolor
## 61           5.0         2.0          3.5         1.0 versicolor
## 62           5.9         3.0          4.2         1.5 versicolor
## 63           6.0         2.2          4.0         1.0 versicolor
## 64           6.1         2.9          4.7         1.4 versicolor
## 65           5.6         2.9          3.6         1.3 versicolor
## 66           6.7         3.1          4.4         1.4 versicolor
## 67           5.6         3.0          4.5         1.5 versicolor
## 68           5.8         2.7          4.1         1.0 versicolor
## 69           6.2         2.2          4.5         1.5 versicolor
## 70           5.6         2.5          3.9         1.1 versicolor
## 71           5.9         3.2          4.8         1.8 versicolor
## 72           6.1         2.8          4.0         1.3 versicolor
## 73           6.3         2.5          4.9         1.5 versicolor
## 74           6.1         2.8          4.7         1.2 versicolor
## 75           6.4         2.9          4.3         1.3 versicolor
## 76           6.6         3.0          4.4         1.4 versicolor
## 77           6.8         2.8          4.8         1.4 versicolor
## 78           6.7         3.0          5.0         1.7 versicolor
## 79           6.0         2.9          4.5         1.5 versicolor
## 80           5.7         2.6          3.5         1.0 versicolor
## 81           5.5         2.4          3.8         1.1 versicolor
## 82           5.5         2.4          3.7         1.0 versicolor
## 83           5.8         2.7          3.9         1.2 versicolor
## 84           6.0         2.7          5.1         1.6 versicolor
## 85           5.4         3.0          4.5         1.5 versicolor
## 86           6.0         3.4          4.5         1.6 versicolor
## 87           6.7         3.1          4.7         1.5 versicolor
## 88           6.3         2.3          4.4         1.3 versicolor
## 89           5.6         3.0          4.1         1.3 versicolor
## 90           5.5         2.5          4.0         1.3 versicolor
## 91           5.5         2.6          4.4         1.2 versicolor
## 92           6.1         3.0          4.6         1.4 versicolor
## 93           5.8         2.6          4.0         1.2 versicolor
## 94           5.0         2.3          3.3         1.0 versicolor
## 95           5.6         2.7          4.2         1.3 versicolor
## 96           5.7         3.0          4.2         1.2 versicolor
## 97           5.7         2.9          4.2         1.3 versicolor
## 98           6.2         2.9          4.3         1.3 versicolor
## 99           5.1         2.5          3.0         1.1 versicolor
## 100          5.7         2.8          4.1         1.3 versicolor
## 101          6.3         3.3          6.0         2.5  virginica
## 102          5.8         2.7          5.1         1.9  virginica
## 103          7.1         3.0          5.9         2.1  virginica
## 104          6.3         2.9          5.6         1.8  virginica
## 105          6.5         3.0          5.8         2.2  virginica
## 106          7.6         3.0          6.6         2.1  virginica
## 107          4.9         2.5          4.5         1.7  virginica
## 108          7.3         2.9          6.3         1.8  virginica
## 109          6.7         2.5          5.8         1.8  virginica
## 110          7.2         3.6          6.1         2.5  virginica
## 111          6.5         3.2          5.1         2.0  virginica
## 112          6.4         2.7          5.3         1.9  virginica
## 113          6.8         3.0          5.5         2.1  virginica
## 114          5.7         2.5          5.0         2.0  virginica
## 115          5.8         2.8          5.1         2.4  virginica
## 116          6.4         3.2          5.3         2.3  virginica
## 117          6.5         3.0          5.5         1.8  virginica
## 118          7.7         3.8          6.7         2.2  virginica
## 119          7.7         2.6          6.9         2.3  virginica
## 120          6.0         2.2          5.0         1.5  virginica
## 121          6.9         3.2          5.7         2.3  virginica
## 122          5.6         2.8          4.9         2.0  virginica
## 123          7.7         2.8          6.7         2.0  virginica
## 124          6.3         2.7          4.9         1.8  virginica
## 125          6.7         3.3          5.7         2.1  virginica
## 126          7.2         3.2          6.0         1.8  virginica
## 127          6.2         2.8          4.8         1.8  virginica
## 128          6.1         3.0          4.9         1.8  virginica
## 129          6.4         2.8          5.6         2.1  virginica
## 130          7.2         3.0          5.8         1.6  virginica
## 131          7.4         2.8          6.1         1.9  virginica
## 132          7.9         3.8          6.4         2.0  virginica
## 133          6.4         2.8          5.6         2.2  virginica
## 134          6.3         2.8          5.1         1.5  virginica
## 135          6.1         2.6          5.6         1.4  virginica
## 136          7.7         3.0          6.1         2.3  virginica
## 137          6.3         3.4          5.6         2.4  virginica
## 138          6.4         3.1          5.5         1.8  virginica
## 139          6.0         3.0          4.8         1.8  virginica
## 140          6.9         3.1          5.4         2.1  virginica
## 141          6.7         3.1          5.6         2.4  virginica
## 142          6.9         3.1          5.1         2.3  virginica
## 143          5.8         2.7          5.1         1.9  virginica
## 144          6.8         3.2          5.9         2.3  virginica
## 145          6.7         3.3          5.7         2.5  virginica
## 146          6.7         3.0          5.2         2.3  virginica
## 147          6.3         2.5          5.0         1.9  virginica
## 148          6.5         3.0          5.2         2.0  virginica
## 149          6.2         3.4          5.4         2.3  virginica
## 150          5.9         3.0          5.1         1.8  virginica

But, if I need something more complicated like, I need all datasets to have at least 100 observations I could use keep with an anonymous function.

dummy_list %>% 
  keep(function(x){
    # Removes null and small datasets 
    !is.null(x) && nrow(x) > 100
  }) %>% 
  head()
## $b
##     Sepal.Length Sepal.Width Petal.Length Petal.Width    Species
## 1            5.1         3.5          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 2            4.9         3.0          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 3            4.7         3.2          1.3         0.2     setosa
## 4            4.6         3.1          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 5            5.0         3.6          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 6            5.4         3.9          1.7         0.4     setosa
## 7            4.6         3.4          1.4         0.3     setosa
## 8            5.0         3.4          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 9            4.4         2.9          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 10           4.9         3.1          1.5         0.1     setosa
## 11           5.4         3.7          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 12           4.8         3.4          1.6         0.2     setosa
## 13           4.8         3.0          1.4         0.1     setosa
## 14           4.3         3.0          1.1         0.1     setosa
## 15           5.8         4.0          1.2         0.2     setosa
## 16           5.7         4.4          1.5         0.4     setosa
## 17           5.4         3.9          1.3         0.4     setosa
## 18           5.1         3.5          1.4         0.3     setosa
## 19           5.7         3.8          1.7         0.3     setosa
## 20           5.1         3.8          1.5         0.3     setosa
## 21           5.4         3.4          1.7         0.2     setosa
## 22           5.1         3.7          1.5         0.4     setosa
## 23           4.6         3.6          1.0         0.2     setosa
## 24           5.1         3.3          1.7         0.5     setosa
## 25           4.8         3.4          1.9         0.2     setosa
## 26           5.0         3.0          1.6         0.2     setosa
## 27           5.0         3.4          1.6         0.4     setosa
## 28           5.2         3.5          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 29           5.2         3.4          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 30           4.7         3.2          1.6         0.2     setosa
## 31           4.8         3.1          1.6         0.2     setosa
## 32           5.4         3.4          1.5         0.4     setosa
## 33           5.2         4.1          1.5         0.1     setosa
## 34           5.5         4.2          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 35           4.9         3.1          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 36           5.0         3.2          1.2         0.2     setosa
## 37           5.5         3.5          1.3         0.2     setosa
## 38           4.9         3.6          1.4         0.1     setosa
## 39           4.4         3.0          1.3         0.2     setosa
## 40           5.1         3.4          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 41           5.0         3.5          1.3         0.3     setosa
## 42           4.5         2.3          1.3         0.3     setosa
## 43           4.4         3.2          1.3         0.2     setosa
## 44           5.0         3.5          1.6         0.6     setosa
## 45           5.1         3.8          1.9         0.4     setosa
## 46           4.8         3.0          1.4         0.3     setosa
## 47           5.1         3.8          1.6         0.2     setosa
## 48           4.6         3.2          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 49           5.3         3.7          1.5         0.2     setosa
## 50           5.0         3.3          1.4         0.2     setosa
## 51           7.0         3.2          4.7         1.4 versicolor
## 52           6.4         3.2          4.5         1.5 versicolor
## 53           6.9         3.1          4.9         1.5 versicolor
## 54           5.5         2.3          4.0         1.3 versicolor
## 55           6.5         2.8          4.6         1.5 versicolor
## 56           5.7         2.8          4.5         1.3 versicolor
## 57           6.3         3.3          4.7         1.6 versicolor
## 58           4.9         2.4          3.3         1.0 versicolor
## 59           6.6         2.9          4.6         1.3 versicolor
## 60           5.2         2.7          3.9         1.4 versicolor
## 61           5.0         2.0          3.5         1.0 versicolor
## 62           5.9         3.0          4.2         1.5 versicolor
## 63           6.0         2.2          4.0         1.0 versicolor
## 64           6.1         2.9          4.7         1.4 versicolor
## 65           5.6         2.9          3.6         1.3 versicolor
## 66           6.7         3.1          4.4         1.4 versicolor
## 67           5.6         3.0          4.5         1.5 versicolor
## 68           5.8         2.7          4.1         1.0 versicolor
## 69           6.2         2.2          4.5         1.5 versicolor
## 70           5.6         2.5          3.9         1.1 versicolor
## 71           5.9         3.2          4.8         1.8 versicolor
## 72           6.1         2.8          4.0         1.3 versicolor
## 73           6.3         2.5          4.9         1.5 versicolor
## 74           6.1         2.8          4.7         1.2 versicolor
## 75           6.4         2.9          4.3         1.3 versicolor
## 76           6.6         3.0          4.4         1.4 versicolor
## 77           6.8         2.8          4.8         1.4 versicolor
## 78           6.7         3.0          5.0         1.7 versicolor
## 79           6.0         2.9          4.5         1.5 versicolor
## 80           5.7         2.6          3.5         1.0 versicolor
## 81           5.5         2.4          3.8         1.1 versicolor
## 82           5.5         2.4          3.7         1.0 versicolor
## 83           5.8         2.7          3.9         1.2 versicolor
## 84           6.0         2.7          5.1         1.6 versicolor
## 85           5.4         3.0          4.5         1.5 versicolor
## 86           6.0         3.4          4.5         1.6 versicolor
## 87           6.7         3.1          4.7         1.5 versicolor
## 88           6.3         2.3          4.4         1.3 versicolor
## 89           5.6         3.0          4.1         1.3 versicolor
## 90           5.5         2.5          4.0         1.3 versicolor
## 91           5.5         2.6          4.4         1.2 versicolor
## 92           6.1         3.0          4.6         1.4 versicolor
## 93           5.8         2.6          4.0         1.2 versicolor
## 94           5.0         2.3          3.3         1.0 versicolor
## 95           5.6         2.7          4.2         1.3 versicolor
## 96           5.7         3.0          4.2         1.2 versicolor
## 97           5.7         2.9          4.2         1.3 versicolor
## 98           6.2         2.9          4.3         1.3 versicolor
## 99           5.1         2.5          3.0         1.1 versicolor
## 100          5.7         2.8          4.1         1.3 versicolor
## 101          6.3         3.3          6.0         2.5  virginica
## 102          5.8         2.7          5.1         1.9  virginica
## 103          7.1         3.0          5.9         2.1  virginica
## 104          6.3         2.9          5.6         1.8  virginica
## 105          6.5         3.0          5.8         2.2  virginica
## 106          7.6         3.0          6.6         2.1  virginica
## 107          4.9         2.5          4.5         1.7  virginica
## 108          7.3         2.9          6.3         1.8  virginica
## 109          6.7         2.5          5.8         1.8  virginica
## 110          7.2         3.6          6.1         2.5  virginica
## 111          6.5         3.2          5.1         2.0  virginica
## 112          6.4         2.7          5.3         1.9  virginica
## 113          6.8         3.0          5.5         2.1  virginica
## 114          5.7         2.5          5.0         2.0  virginica
## 115          5.8         2.8          5.1         2.4  virginica
## 116          6.4         3.2          5.3         2.3  virginica
## 117          6.5         3.0          5.5         1.8  virginica
## 118          7.7         3.8          6.7         2.2  virginica
## 119          7.7         2.6          6.9         2.3  virginica
## 120          6.0         2.2          5.0         1.5  virginica
## 121          6.9         3.2          5.7         2.3  virginica
## 122          5.6         2.8          4.9         2.0  virginica
## 123          7.7         2.8          6.7         2.0  virginica
## 124          6.3         2.7          4.9         1.8  virginica
## 125          6.7         3.3          5.7         2.1  virginica
## 126          7.2         3.2          6.0         1.8  virginica
## 127          6.2         2.8          4.8         1.8  virginica
## 128          6.1         3.0          4.9         1.8  virginica
## 129          6.4         2.8          5.6         2.1  virginica
## 130          7.2         3.0          5.8         1.6  virginica
## 131          7.4         2.8          6.1         1.9  virginica
## 132          7.9         3.8          6.4         2.0  virginica
## 133          6.4         2.8          5.6         2.2  virginica
## 134          6.3         2.8          5.1         1.5  virginica
## 135          6.1         2.6          5.6         1.4  virginica
## 136          7.7         3.0          6.1         2.3  virginica
## 137          6.3         3.4          5.6         2.4  virginica
## 138          6.4         3.1          5.5         1.8  virginica
## 139          6.0         3.0          4.8         1.8  virginica
## 140          6.9         3.1          5.4         2.1  virginica
## 141          6.7         3.1          5.6         2.4  virginica
## 142          6.9         3.1          5.1         2.3  virginica
## 143          5.8         2.7          5.1         1.9  virginica
## 144          6.8         3.2          5.9         2.3  virginica
## 145          6.7         3.3          5.7         2.5  virginica
## 146          6.7         3.0          5.2         2.3  virginica
## 147          6.3         2.5          5.0         1.9  virginica
## 148          6.5         3.0          5.2         2.0  virginica
## 149          6.2         3.4          5.4         2.3  virginica
## 150          5.9         3.0          5.1         1.8  virginica

I hope this little post ensures keep and discard get a little bit more attention. Cause I find they really do vastly increase the reability of code.