[glifchits]

As a beginner in scientific/data computing, is it worth building a foundation in Julia or do with some other tool instead? I'm comfortable in Python but I don't know if its best to teach myself how to use NumPy and friends when I have the opportunity to immerse myself in this brand new shiny technology.

[burntsushi]

It depends. There is a certain allure to working with a shiny new technology. It's sort of like an adventure, because not many have paved a strong path forward yet. But not everyone likes an adventure. Sometimes there will be huge roadblocks that don't have obvious solutions; especially for the beginner.

On the other hand, the scientific computing crowd for Python/NumPy is well established and there will be plenty of people who have probably come across any problem that you will see. There is already an established ecosystem of tools that you'll be able to draw from, and it's likely that many of them have been well tested and are reliable.

The decision is really up to you. Do you have the time and desire to go on adventure? If so, maybe Julia would be a nice pick. Are you short on time or weary of adventure? Then maybe Python/NumPy would be a better pick.

[acidflask]

It depends on what kind of user you are. If you are comfortable with the risks and rewards of being an early adopter using bleeding-edge tools, then by all means try Julia. If you need the stability and functionality of a mature platform, then you may not want to learn Julia as your first tool.

[trthatcher]

I don't think it will be a problem to do both.

It doesn't take long to learn Julia well enough to write a Julia package that others will use. For me, that was about 3 weeks @ 10-15 hours a week, and I'm no programmer. It's a small language and it's quite readable. I'd reccomend going through the Julia manual; it doesn't take long and only requires some diligence.

The problem is the lack of packages/libraries and lots of documentation is still missing. That, and the packages that do exist with multiple contributors are still in disagreement about standards and consistency.

[sanskritabelt]

If you're a beginner, stick with python, or matlab.