[UMetaGOMS]

They did that because Python has an appealing user experience for people using that kind of code day-to-day. IMO this is what Julia missed; I've tried it at least once per year since first hearing about it in 2014 and the UX was horrible every time. Pretty sure if I ever found myself needing to write low-level numerical code I'd just use Fortran like everyone else.

It's a real shame because Julia initially felt like it might develop to be the natural successor to Python in scientific computing, but over time that has seemed less and less likely.

[adamnemecek]

When was the last time you tried and what problems did you encounter?

[UMetaGOMS]

Last year sometime - I'm about due another look.

Main problems were cryptic errors in the REPL, super slow start-up and first run times (JIT issue I seem to recall reading was being improved), and a generally very poor third-party package management system.

On the last issue, I'd say Python is not perfect but pip and various virtualenv management systems are "good enough". Having something like the Rust/Cargo setup is what I would prefer.

[adamnemecek]

It has gotten a lot better I think.