cachematrix.R

## Hello fellow students, don't know what you think of this assignment, but sure wasn't easy for me...

## The code below describes two functions used to create an object that stores a matrix and cache's its inverse.

## The 1st function named makeCacheMatrix creates a special "matrix" which is really a list containing a function to:
## 1) set the value of the matrix (set_matrix)
## 2) get the value of the matrix (get_matrix)
## 3) set the value of the inverse (set_inverse)
## 4) get the value of the inverse (get_inverse)

makeCacheMatrix <- function(x = matrix()) {
    inverse <- NULL 					                      ## Initially assigning 'NULL' to inverse
    set_matrix <- function(y) {			
        x <<- y 					                          ## Setting the matrix 'x'
        inverse <<- NULL
    }
    get_matrix <- function() x 				                  ## Returning matrix 'x'
    set_inverse <- function(solve) inverse <<- solve 	      ## Cache the value of the inverse 
    get_inverse <- function() inverse 			              ## Returning inverse
    list(set_matrix = set_matrix, get_matrix = get_matrix,
         set_inverse = set_inverse,
         get_inverse = get_inverse)
}


## The following function calculates the inverse of the special "matrix" created with the above function.
## First of all, it verifies if the inverse has already been calculated. 
## If so, it gets the inverse from the cache and skips the computation. 
## Otherwise, it calculates the inverse of the data and sets the value of the inverse in the cache via 
## the 'set_inverse' function.

## This function assumes that the matrix is always invertible!

cacheSolve <- function(x, ...) {				## Return a matrix that is the inverse of 'x'
    inverse <- x$get_inverse()				    ## Getting inverse
    if(!is.null(inverse)) {					    ## Checking for the presence of inverse
        message("getting cached data")			## Displaying message
        return(inverse)
    }
    data <- x$get_matrix()					    ## Getting Matrix
    inverse <- solve(data, ...)				    ## Using solve() to compute inverse
    x$set_inverse(inverse)					    ## To cache the inverse
    inverse 						            ## Returning the inverse
}