PortCullingEncoding

firstCol <- c('L', '∅', 'R')
secondCol <- c('∅', '∅', '∅')
thirdCol <- c('R', 'R', 'R')
allTogetherNow <- cbind(firstCol, secondCol, thirdCol)
print(allTogetherNow)

##      firstCol secondCol thirdCol
## [1,] "L"      "∅"       "R"     
## [2,] "∅"      "∅"       "R"     
## [3,] "R"      "∅"       "R"

countPossPortCull <- function(coerced) {
  counter <- 0
  for (i in 1:3) {
    if (coerced[i,1] == 'L' && coerced[i,2] == '∅' && coerced[i,3] == 'R') {
      counter <- counter + 1
    }
    if (coerced[1,i] == 'L' && coerced[2,i] == '∅' && coerced[3,i] == 'R') {
      counter <- counter + 1
    }
  }
  return(counter)
}

numOfPorts <- countPossPortCull(allTogetherNow)