title: R: how to add new column and fill with values conditional on other column (simple)
body: <p>I know this question is incredibly simple and has already been answered - my issue is that I am a <em>complete</em> beginner to R (and I mean COMPLETE beginner), and all of the answers and explanations I have found pertaining to this query are complicated and require a greater depth of understanding of R than I currently have (and have time to learn). </p>
  
  <p>I have a large csv dataset (500k+ rows of data), called 'overviewGenes', and I need to create a new column and fill each cell in the new column with either '1' or '0', depending on the value of another column in the corresponding row. </p>
  
  <p>The existing column, 'Gexact', contains either "exact" or "non-specific" in each row. I want R to create the the column ('BooleanExact'), and for each row, put '0' if the value in the Gexact column reads 'exact', and put '1' if the value in the Gexact column reads 'non-specific'. </p>
  
  <p>So, below is a representation of how I want it to appear:  </p>
  
  <pre><code>Gexact       BooleanExact 
  exact           0
  exact           0
  non-specific    1
  exact           0
  non-specific    1
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Like I said, incredibly simple. I have tried using example code in answers given to similar questions, but for whatever reason (probably my utter lack of experience with R), none of it has worked. I have tried using 'for j in ___' loops etc. but it doesn't seem to be the right approach. </p>
  
  <p>Any help about the code I should be using to do this, in the simplest language and method possible, would be greatly appreciated! </p>