generics

The generics package provides a collection of S3 generic methods that package developers can import and re-export instead of depending on heavier packages like broom. This reduces the number of dependencies needed to implement common methods like tidy(), fit(), or explain() for custom objects.

The package solves the dependency problem where developers previously had to import entire packages just to access a single generic method. It’s lightweight and contains only generic function definitions, allowing packages to implement methods without pulling in unnecessary dependencies. For example, the recipes package uses generics to define tidy() methods without depending on broom.