[baldfat]

That right there is what I am talking about. I make a point and people have to attack that that the language is pointless when it is the number one language in that domain, which just happened the last two years.

Why would you ever have to rewrite the code? Python isn't faster and has less function then R and if you want you can just drop a few lines of Python in a cell of a Notebook. I like Python and its a good choice but R is a great language that in fact that Python's pandas library is trying to make a R equivalent.

[cat199]

R is useful only more in pure analysis - interfacing to other systems and dealing with application/control logic is not it's strong point, so unless you are embedding R into a larger project (e.g. R batch scheduler), if you need these features, you'll likely need to rewrite.

[mehaveaccount]

>I make a point and people have to attack that that the language is pointless when it is the number one language in that domain, which just happened the last two years.

That's not true though, R doesn't have anywhere near the ecosystem that Python does for Natural Language Processing, Web Frameworks, Machine Learning, Computer Algebra and Symbolic Reasoning, Systems Programming, Image Processing, Document Processing, and other things I don't know about but if I needed something else then I can use Python confidently that there will be good packages for them with a community around it.

The entirety of R's unique mindshare is that it has a million variations on linear regression and contingency table tests. And frankly they're all so simple to implement that if you can't be bothered to learn how to implement it in 2 lines of Python then you probably don't know what your program is actually doing.

R is something that caught on because it made its statistics package top-level, saving keystrokes for statistics and bio-statistics professors who never needed anything else and didn't know how to otherwise program. It's unique syntax has lead their poor students to have to learn C-family syntax many years after they could have been working and being productive with it.

Now some companies are accommodating R for their entry-level data scientist positions in order to hire cheaper help that can't find better options, but their skills are limited by being disconnected from the rest of the programming world in both packages and syntax.

[baldfat]

> That's not true though, R doesn't have ...

Your comparing a general purpose language and a domain specific language.

Domain specific just talking in statistics and data science. I don't need a webframe work I need to make my report and have the charts work. I also push out my reports in Word and PowerPoint and I can't do that in Python but I can in R with ReportR library (The whole reason why I left Python and Pandas and came to R)

I say if you want to do more then the domain specific then sure Python is an awesome language and you can use your Python skills for more, but if you want the extras that the domain specific language gives you come on board.

To say R is a "Pointless Language" is very troll like especially with companies spend millions of investment and infrastructure that have come to R in the last 24 months.

I could also say what I always say about Python. It is the World's Great Second Best Lanaguge. It doesn't do anything "best", but it is a awesome second best and if that is fine with you have fun. I love Python but I also see the limits of the language. I thought 15 years ago Python would revolutionize everything and everything would be written in it. We now have Lua that took over for game scripting. We have C++ still ruling the day for applications. Web development has been dominated by JavaScript and Mobile development and Python is well .... So the two largest platforms aren't really impacted by Python.

> Now some companies are accommodating R for their entry-level data scientist positions in order to hire cheaper help

http://www.datasciencecentral.com/forum/topics/what-pays-mos...

http://www.kdnuggets.com/2015/05/r-vs-python-data-science.ht...

It isn't a clear picture but NO way is Python dominating in pay or work. R is a GREAT language and so is Python but for some weird reason Python community hates on R. While the developers of R and Python respect and work with eachother and help both sides. I am shocked you feel Python is so over powerfully awesome.