When you type in the example codes:
sprintf("%s is %f feet tall\n", "Sven", 7.1)
and R returns: [1] "Sven is 7.100000 feet tall\n" this is very different from the 'sprintf' function in C/C++, for in C/C++, the format string "\n" usually represents a new line, but here, just the plain text "\n"!
The function sprintf() produces a string, which is then printed
using R formatting. You probably expected the following.
> cat(sprintf("%s is %f feet tall\n", "Sven", 7.1))
Sven is 7.100000 feet tall
Compare also
> s <- sprintf("%s is %f feet tall\n", "Sven", 7.1)
> cat(s)
Sven is 7.100000 feet tall
> print(s)
[1] "Sven is 7.100000 feet tall\n"
>
PS.