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by medo-bear 1688 days ago
exactly right. REPL is a key feature for computational scientists. in physics, for example, the value proposition of python was that it provided an open source alternative to matlab (also a REPL based environment) without sacrificing functionality. i believe that the really revolutionary thing with python was that it provided an extremely fertile ground for open source development of numerical methods that far exceeded what was offered on matlab in syntax that resembled pseudo code (much like matlab). julia's value proposition is all of that, plus a much more performant base language with arguably even better syntax
2 comments
AstroDogCatcher 1688 days ago
Is that REPL usage still relevant in a world of Jupyter notebooks?

Getting started with Julia always just feels clunky to me - perhaps the other commenter was closer to the mark in blaming the documentation rather than the REPL itself. Either way, despite being a former scientist who has moved into IT (sadly), I get the distinct impression that the language is just not aimed at me. As such, I'm always surprised to see people trying to push it in settings outside its current realm of adoption; feels very much like the language maintainers have no real interest in that.

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adgjlsfhk1 1688 days ago
REPL is pretty similar to jupyter. Julia works well with jupyter, but if you like notebooks, you should definitely look at Pluto. It's a reactive notebook so it automatically tracks cell dependencies and makes it so your notebook is never in an inconsistent state.
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AstroDogCatcher 1686 days ago
As it turns out I really don't like notebooks, but that is due to the state issues - so it sounds like I should check out Pluto. Thanks!
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disgruntledphd2 1688 days ago
I actually kinda do like Julia's syntax, but the OP's comments about poor introductory documentation for experienced programmers definitely ring very true.
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adgjlsfhk1 1688 days ago
PRs to improve docs are always welcome (especially from people who are new to Julia).
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disgruntledphd2 1686 days ago
In order to make that PR I would first need to learn Julia, which is what I want the docs for.
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