[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > Gosi> J is in many ways similar to Python. > > Gosi> J has very many advanced operations. > > Gosi> http://www.jsoftware.com/ > > Doesn't look like open source of any variety. If a person uses Python with > various add-ons (RPy, numpy, matplotlib, etc) why would they want to switch > to a closed source product?
You wouldn't, if for nothing else because python has far better scientific libraries. If you've got an interest in programming languages as such J (or some other APL) is worth a look though; it's also handy for quick mathematical experimentation (J's array primitives are more expressive than what numpy offers and python doesn't support rationals, so it's not just concise due to perl-style crypticness). For example I once wrote this (slow) code to display part of a mandelbrot fractal: load'viewmat' viewmat+/2&>:|((j.~/~(%~i:)99)&+@:*:)^:(i.32)0 It'll likely require you more typing in python, but then you'd need to do such things quite a lot for seeing an amortization in terms of less time spent with your PC; I think most people will find they need a seizable learning investment to get anywhere with J and python already is very expressive for the kind of things J is good at. 'as -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list