Drop data frame columns by name

Question

I have a number of columns that I would like to remove from a data frame. I know that we can delete them individually using something like:

df$x <- NULL
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Answer 1

within(df, rm(x))

is probably easiest, or for multiple variables:

within(df, rm(x, y))

Or if you're dealing with data.tables (per How do you delete a column by name in data.table?):

dt[, x := NULL]   # Deletes column x by reference instantly.

dt[, !"x"]   # Selects all but x into a new data.table.

or for multiple variables

dt[, c("x","y") := NULL]

dt[, !c("x", "y")]