1) You'd be better off with Python most likely due to library support. (numpy etc...) 2) Why would it? I won't say I'm fluent in c++, but thats mainly due to n

1) You'd be better off with Python most likely due to library support. (numpy etc...) 2) Why would it? I won't say I'm fluent in c++, but thats mainly due to not having to use it daily. That and I prefer straight c normally, I tend to dig into kernel source and drivers often so c++ isn't a big deal most times. But don't let language preferences of anyone guide you, evaluate what works best and use it for your problems. I like ruby in general but sometimes python is a better choice, other times perl, other times c, or even shell. Don't optimize code you haven't written yet. Explore the domain with ruby if you want and write a faster version in c once you understand the problem. Or java or whatever.