I work in an academic setting. If I had the choice I'd prefer Python (or even Julia), but frequently Matlab is what's appropriate in a lower-division STEM (non

I work in an academic setting. If I had the choice I'd prefer Python (or even Julia), but frequently Matlab is what's appropriate in a lower-division STEM (non-CS) course because it's what many engineers are used to and teach or expect their students to know. I'd rather use Octave than Matlab in such settings, and encourage students to do the same. Also, Matlab is still much more common (at least in undergrad engineering courses, not so sure about actual usage in the industry) than Python or other similar tools, and it's good to have a free software alternative. That said, I sometimes feel Octave is too much a clone of Matlab, warts and all, and I'd rather give up some compatibility for genuine improvement. (Same way I feel about LibreOffice or OpenOffice sometimes.)