charting

[akameswaran at gmail.com]

I have used matplotlib along with numpy numerics etc for some analysis.
 Just home projects, but I have found python a much faster/better
language for such development than Java.  That being said, i have found
the network aspects of other apps i've written to be much easier/faster
in java.  This could be due to my relative inexperience with python
networking libraries compared to Java.

Python is likely a great choice.  If you find some sections of the
analytics performing poorly, you can implement those functions in C.  A
well modularized design in python will lend itself to relatively easy
optimization via C libraries if you need them.   FYI -  I am not a C
programmer, but the kind of mathematical functions that get written for
optimization typically are trivial in C(meaning I could write them -
and I still don't get pointer arithmatic).  While Python may not be the
"best" language/implementation stack to use.  It is likely to still be
a "good" choice for the type of app you describe.

Is it THE langauge?  couldn't tell you, that's decision that also
entails a realistic look at the resources you have for development, the
overall size/scale of the proposed system.  External integration points
etc.

Additional things to thinka bout are licensing restrictions, IP issues.
Is this something you want to sell in the future, a purely in-house
tool?  Most of my charting has been for personal purposes, so those
considerations don't really matter to me - but are something to
consider.