R is GNU S, not C.... [was "how to get or store ....."]

Yes, it drives me mad too when people use "=" instead of "<-" for
assignment and suppress spaces in an naive attempt for saving space. 

In fact, I like the <- assignment operator, but tend to write code 
densely myself as that is the way I like to view it. As R formats the 
source code it displays in the typographic density approved by the 
gurus, it does seem a tidge authoritarian to insist that everyone adhere 
to the same coding style in private. After all, I don't whinge about 
having to scroll up and down like a yoyo when attempting to decipher 
other people's "spaced out" code.

I intentionally don't use semicolons as line terminators in R to 
forestall my C reflexes. The greatest difficulty I have with this sort 
of interference is between R and Tcl-Tk which, combined with the correct 
titre of fatigue, almost always leads to syntax errors. I did enjoy 
Ted's defense of the semicolon in R, as it emphasizes the diversity of 
styles upon which cooperative programming depends.

Jim