Most R is written by people who are not (and mostly don't want to be) professional programmers. This is both a strength (industrial strength discipline specific

Most R is written by people who are not (and mostly don't want to be) professional programmers. This is both a strength (industrial strength discipline specific tools) and a weakness (oh dear lord the code, my eyeeeeees). It's also important to note that much of the original core of R is based on S, which was developed around the same time as C, so some baggage would be expected.