Primarily, the reach package is meant to be used to batch process a lot of data in each executed Matlab script or to run Matlab functions that have high time complexity. However, the robust data transfer via the file system comes at the price of an overhead to start and terminate the Matlab process for every function call or Matlab script execution. The 'reach' functions just work, with no complicated setup required. mat files as a means to robustly exchange data between R and a separate Matlab process. It enables to run Matlab functions and scripts from within R using.

The reach package contains functions that make it easy to reuse existing Matlab code within R code and to build a robust integrated R - Matlab software pipeline and workflow, enhancing the compatibility between R and Matlab. Reach: R Matlab interoperability version 0.4.5