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by alerighi 1192 days ago
The difference (as I see it) is that Matlab/Octave are more easier to use for a person that doesn't know a programming language, such as a math student. While to a programmer Matlab language doesn't make sense (array starting from 1, syntax, a multitude of functions in the global namespace, etc) to a mathematician it does since it more resembles the language of a graphical calculator (that was what Matlab started with).

It's true that Python with the use of Jupyter notebooks is getting closer to be a simple to use tool, but you still need to know some programming to use it.
1 comments
bee_rider 1192 days ago
Tossing everything into the global namespace also makes the REPL experience a little more enjoyable.

IMO Octave really shines as a REPL you can write short scripts and functions for.

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rightbyte 1192 days ago
This so much. Running scripts in Octave and being able to inspect every variable makes debugging so much easier when you are new at programming. Especially with the GUI and variable explorer.
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ModernMech 1192 days ago
> being able to inspect every variable makes debugging so much easier when you are new at programming.

I'd go further to say this is useful for anyone with any level of experience programming!

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rightbyte 1192 days ago
Globals are bad, m'kay?
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