Handle strings (characters) as vectors. Masks [, [<- and + and is thus not suited for any serious application.
x = "abcdefg"
x[1]
#> [1] "a"
x[c(2:3,7)]
#> [1] "bcg"
x[1] <- "A"
x[5:6] <- "."
x
#> [1] "Abcd..g"
"combine" + " strings"
#> [1] "combine strings"