The simple answer is that SparkR does support map/reduce operations over RDD’s through the RDD API, but since Spark v 1.4.0, those functions were made private in SparkR. They can still be accessed by prepending the function with the namespace, like SparkR:::lapply(rdd, func). It was thought though that many of the functions in the RDD API were too low level to expose, with much more of the focus going into the DataFrame API. The original rationale for this decision can be found in its JIRA [1]. The devs are still deciding which functions of the RDD API, if any, should be made public for future releases. If you feel some use cases are most easily handled in SparkR through RDD functions, go ahead and let the dev email list know.
Alek [1] -- https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/SPARK-7230 From: Wei Zhou <zhweisop...@gmail.com<mailto:zhweisop...@gmail.com>> Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2015 at 4:59 PM To: "user@spark.apache.org<mailto:user@spark.apache.org>" <user@spark.apache.org<mailto:user@spark.apache.org>> Subject: How to Map and Reduce in sparkR Anyone knows whether sparkR supports map and reduce operations as the RDD transformations? Thanks in advance. Best, Wei CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE This message and any included attachments are from Cerner Corporation and are intended only for the addressee. The information contained in this message is confidential and may constitute inside or non-public information under international, federal, or state securities laws. Unauthorized forwarding, printing, copying, distribution, or use of such information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you are not the addressee, please promptly delete this message and notify the sender of the delivery error by e-mail or you may call Cerner's corporate offices in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.A at (+1) (816)221-1024.