> -----Original Message-----
> From: nicolas.pettiaux at gmail.com
.....someone reacted saying that we should altogether drop
> matlab and octave for Mathematica, *the* system for him that could be
> used to teach a modern programming language
Find any computer science professor who teaches programming language design
and implementation.
He/she will probably explain that Mathematica is NOT a modern programming
language, but a hodge-podge merging of half-understood and incorrectly
implemented ideas from several languages, covered by a veneer of glossy
half-truths.
(I would like to have some
> arguments in that respect) and a system that could be used to work in
> a much larger framework.
There are many alternatives to this.
>
> I am buiding my arguments, that we should use a free system, and if
> looking beyond simply numerical computations, then go for SAGE for
> example, that offers a free environnement (it is a free software)
> python as programming language, with the power and features of a cas
> (thanks to Maxima and others), numerical tool (thanks to python
> matlplotlib and scipy, but also octave if needed) and a nice web
> interface (much like Mathematica).
Python is becoming increasingly popular. I prefer Lisp, myself, partly
because the CAS aspects are more directly available.
>
> I would appreciate your experiences (I will also ask my friends in the
> octave, scipy and SAGE lists) for their arguments.
>
> THanks,
>
> Nicolas
>
>
> --
> Nicolas Pettiaux - email: nicolas.pettiaux at ael.be
>