Hi Ian, Python is an example of a language with solid package management and repository (Pypi), FFI, parallelism support (e.g. Dask), and data structures. Julia is another. They also both have extensive eco-systems for data science oriented tasks. Python has an extensive eco-system for many other things too.
> Most of us learn to reason about optimization, monte-carlo methods, AI and > data mining by deep experience of one programming language. I reason about those things in terms of mathematics and abstract structures: I'd venture to say that's par for the course because its easiest. Most implementations of staple algorithms on the other hand are C/C++ and it I don't think it has anything to do with convenience of reasoning in C. It is to do with portability, integration and performance. I was drawn to J by the grammar. The infix / suffix notation and combination rules must lead to a different way of conceiving what verbs are useful, and perhaps to a different way of thinking entirely. It is inspired, and I remain extremely impressed by it. However, this must be separated from the utility of the language for a workload which is down to the suitability of the vocabulary it supports today and in the near future. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
