title: Is there a string formatting operator in R similar to Python's %?
body: <p>I have a url that I need to send a request to using date variables. The https address takes the date variables. I'd like to assign the dates to the address string using something like the formatting operator % in Python. Does R have a similar operator or do I need to rely on paste()?</p>
  
  <pre><code># Example variables
  year = "2008"
  mnth = "1"
  day = "31"
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>This is what I would do in Python 2.7:</p>
  
  <pre><code>url = "https:.../KBOS/%s/%s/%s/DailyHistory.html" % (year, mnth, day)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Or using .format() in 3.+.</p>
  
  <p>The only I'd know to do in R seems verbose and relies on paste:</p>
  
  <pre><code>url_start = "https:.../KBOS/"
  url_end = "/DailyHistory.html"
  paste(url_start, year, "/", mnth, "/", day, url_end) 
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Is there a better way of doing this?</p>