I find the following ways in which
R attempts to preserve names to
be puzzling and often annoying

x = c(a=1,b=2,c=3)
c(d=x["a"],e=x["b"])

# d.a e.b
# 1  2
list(d=x["a"],e=x["b"])

# $d
# a
# 1

# $e
# b
# 2

(a real-world example: I fit
some parameters with mle(), ending
up with a named vector of coefficients,
and then want to use some or all of
those coefficients as input to another
mle() call -- I have to remove the
names manually.)

Can anyone suggest why this happens/
why it is a good design/whether there
are simple workarounds?

sincerely
  Ben Bolker

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