Python vs. Matlab

[Cameron Laird]

In article <mailman.1043280641.4294.python-list at python.org>,
Chad Netzer  <cnetzer at mail.arc.nasa.gov> wrote:
>On Wednesday 22 January 2003 15:41, Mongryong wrote:
>> Python vs Matlab (or any other similar language).
>>
>> Any opinions on this comparison?  Benchmarks? Functionality?
>
>Python is becoming more and more popular in the Scientific community.
>
>> One big up for Python is that it's FREE!
>
>So are Octave, SciLab, R, etc.
>
>Python is nice because of it's flexibilty, and ability to make use of
>existing C and fortran libraries (via f2c), and it's clean, elegant 
>syntax.  But it still has a long uphill battle to compete with all the 
>toolkits available for Matlab.  Depending on the libraries, it can be 
>speed competitive with Matlab, and if the right toolkits are available, 
>I find I get more reuse out of my python code, typically, because I can 
>organize it with classes and packages.
>
>Look at SciPy, ScientificPython, SalStat, for just some of the 
>possibilities.  But one needs to know the problem domain before 
>recommending Python outright.  There are many powerful tools that come 
>with the free Matlab workalikes, that Python may not yet have (or even 
>ever have).
>
>Matlab is expensive because it has very useful and comprehensive 
>Toolboxes, that people are willing to pay for.  But the alternatives 
>are getting better and better.
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More chatter on the same subject is starting to appear at <URL: http://
phaseit.net/claird/comp.programming/open_source_science.html >; see
"Open source in the lab", especially.
-- 

Cameron Laird <Cameron at Lairds.com>
Business:  http://www.Phaseit.net
Personal:  http://phaseit.net/claird/home.html