[R] Fast String operations in R ? Cost of String operations

[Ralf B]

Hi experts,

currently developing some code that checks a large amount of Strings
for the existence of sub-strings and pattern (detecting sub-strings
within URLs). I wonder if there is information about how well
particular String operations work in R together with comparisons. Are
there  recommendations (based on such information) regarding what
operations should be used and what should be avoided? Are there
libraries and functions that provide optimized String operations for
such needs or is R simply not the right choice for that?

Best,
Ralf