[randomhack]

I would suggest looking into NumPy/SciPy instead of Matlab. Matlab has a very good library for numerical computation but in my experience, Matlab is absolutely terrible as a language for anything except matrix stuff.

NumPy gives you a good matrix syntax while building on an excellent general purpose language. Personally I felt NumPy is a lot cleaner and Python a lot more fun than Matlab though Matlab has many many "toolboxes"/libraries not in NumPy.

[carterschonwald]

I second this sentiment. The difference in natural expressiveness is almost painful