[geoalchimista]

> "The syntax of Python just is not nice and using libraries just adds more and more boilerplate."

I think that is a necessary trade-off for Python as a "general-purpose" programming language. I had used MATLAB and IDL quite intensively before I moved on to Python and R. When writing MATLAB, I felt like a scientist and did not have to bother with programming practices, like coding style, unit tests, writing functions instead of scripts, etc. But Python forces me to think like both a scientist and a programmer. (For example, every time you write `np.array([1, 2, 3])` instead of `[1, 2, 3]` it reminds you that array operation is not a free lunch offered by the language; it comes from the NumPy library. Also, it keeps the namespace pure.) I personally like this way better. But I also agree that not everyone likes it. (In my institution, researchers are kinda split half-and-half between Python and MATLAB.)