D has this. A lot of people assume that D is just C++ with some GC and some improvements, but it's really more like C with GC and some improvements -- including a native String type.
There's also a string module in the standard library that includes a lot of convenience methods, including ones for interoperating with C and for working with Unicode[1].
For someone like me with a background in dynamic languages like Python and Lua, as well as some background in C, D was a great fit. Unlike when I started learning C++, D felt like a very natural extension of C to include GC and lots of modern language features.
Lamentably, not many people are interested in D, and so aren't yet a lot of third-party libraries, and many of those that are abandoned. But the core language and standard library are great, and there's a nicely growing and incredibly fast web framework (vibe.d). And Facebook has started supporting the language. So hopefully it will start seeing some growth.
There's also a string module in the standard library that includes a lot of convenience methods, including ones for interoperating with C and for working with Unicode[1].
For someone like me with a background in dynamic languages like Python and Lua, as well as some background in C, D was a great fit. Unlike when I started learning C++, D felt like a very natural extension of C to include GC and lots of modern language features.
Lamentably, not many people are interested in D, and so aren't yet a lot of third-party libraries, and many of those that are abandoned. But the core language and standard library are great, and there's a nicely growing and incredibly fast web framework (vibe.d). And Facebook has started supporting the language. So hopefully it will start seeing some growth.
1. http://dlang.org/phobos/std_string.html