ISO R-programming docs/refs

[A lot of polite and constructive critique deleted]

Is my impression correct that R is simply not well-documented enough
for serious programming?

No.

Have I missed a key reference to programming R?

Yes.

How about reading the text that R displays when it starts (and follow
its suggestions)?  Or visiting the canonical web site for R
(http://www.r-project.org/)?  Or consulting question 2.7 in the R FAQ
("2.7 What documentation exists for R?")  Or reading the posting guide
for the list (http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html)?

All four methods would (presumably) quickly have led you to manuals
such as "the R Language Definition", "Writing R Extensions" and "R
Data Import/Export", and given references to books on programming S
and/or R.

Bj??rn-Helge Mevik