J. Mini questions

• Does R have a distinction between character vectors and strings?
• Is this a correct characterisation of the behaviours of square brackets in Scheme, Racket, Common Lisp, and Clojure?
• In what sense are types in Common Lisp first-class?
• Value tuples exist, so why use the "out" parameter modifier? [closed]
• How are apply family functions scoped?
• R's switch statement is not a special form, is it therefore slow?
• Can R Markdown be made to preview from anywhere other than the start of the document?
• How can I make R's output more verbose so as to reassure me that it hasn't broken yet?
• Does R have a way to say "do n times" without having to write a for loop with a redundant variable?
• Is Clojure less homoiconic than other lisps? [closed]

J. Mini answers