[R] behavior of names

[Ben Bolker]

  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