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I’ve wondered why Julia hasn’t found more root in places where MATLAB is the primary software used for simulation, just as a way to save on licensing. From what

by irowe 6y ago

I’ve wondered why Julia hasn’t found more root in places where MATLAB is the primary software used for simulation, just as a way to save on licensing. From what I’ve heard from managers, that cost is not insignificant.

7thaccount 6y ago
Matlab is extremely expensive. Not just for a single license (thousands of dollars), but critical libraries you may need (Ex: database, GPU, AI, electrical engineering stuff...etc) seem to only be provided as paid add-ons known as "tool-boxes" that costs thousands each. In my experience, Python had all of that for free, and Mathematica had all of that as part of the base language (no tool-boxes) so you pay like $3k and get access to thousands of functions.
- snicker7 6y ago
  Engineers cost money. A LOT of money. A few tens of thousands USD for libraries is not a major investment.
  - 7thaccount 6y ago
    My Python setup is free, Mathematica would be $3k, and Matlab would be ~$25k. I'm not sure what kind of deal a company gets for multiple engineers, but it would still be extremely expensive.
    - pioneer42 6y ago
      Still pocket change for a large corporation. Throw in vendor lock-in, and the fact that the ~$25k Matlab license includes technical support and it's an easy decision. Tech support is a big deal. Most companies would rather contract out than build an in-house team. Better to focus on what you do best and let someone else do what they do best. Not arguing for any technical merit of Matlab (not talking about Simulink, either). Just the business side.
      - 7thaccount 6y ago
        I assume that price is negotiated down per employee for bulk purchases, or else it's not a drop in the bucket even for a large corporation. Just two of those would be a beginning salary for an engineer. Yes, companies do like support.
      - adgjlsfhk1 6y ago
        Julia has julia-computing to provide this type of enterprise support, but it obviously isn't the same.
MengerSponge 6y ago
People who only need "core" Matlab can easily switch, but toolboxes carry tons of validated code, and a lot of additional hardware/software firms expect you to use Matlab to interface with their products. For example, COMSOL only allows interactive programming via Matlab, and Matlab can interface with Cosworth's Pi Toolbox as long as you have the right license key.

by irowe 6y ago

7thaccount 6y ago

Matlab is extremely expensive. Not just for a single license (thousands of dollars), but critical libraries you may need (Ex: database, GPU, AI, electrical engineering stuff...etc) seem to only be provided as paid add-ons known as "tool-boxes" that costs thousands each. In my experience, Python had all of that for free, and Mathematica had all of that as part of the base language (no tool-boxes) so you pay like $3k and get access to thousands of functions.

snicker7 6y ago
Engineers cost money. A LOT of money. A few tens of thousands USD for libraries is not a major investment.
- 7thaccount 6y ago
  My Python setup is free, Mathematica would be $3k, and Matlab would be ~$25k. I'm not sure what kind of deal a company gets for multiple engineers, but it would still be extremely expensive.
  - pioneer42 6y ago
    Still pocket change for a large corporation. Throw in vendor lock-in, and the fact that the ~$25k Matlab license includes technical support and it's an easy decision. Tech support is a big deal. Most companies would rather contract out than build an in-house team. Better to focus on what you do best and let someone else do what they do best. Not arguing for any technical merit of Matlab (not talking about Simulink, either). Just the business side.
    - 7thaccount 6y ago
      I assume that price is negotiated down per employee for bulk purchases, or else it's not a drop in the bucket even for a large corporation. Just two of those would be a beginning salary for an engineer. Yes, companies do like support.
    - adgjlsfhk1 6y ago
      Julia has julia-computing to provide this type of enterprise support, but it obviously isn't the same.

MengerSponge 6y ago

People who only need "core" Matlab can easily switch, but toolboxes carry tons of validated code, and a lot of additional hardware/software firms expect you to use Matlab to interface with their products. For example, COMSOL only allows interactive programming via Matlab, and Matlab can interface with Cosworth's Pi Toolbox as long as you have the right license key.