4 ms·

"The Wolfram Cloud combines a state-of-the-art notebook interface with the world's most productive programming language" Quite the statement there, does anyone

by htk 5y ago

"The Wolfram Cloud combines a state-of-the-art notebook interface with the world's most productive programming language" Quite the statement there, does anyone here have more info on this claim?

johnhenry 5y ago
The claim "world's most productive programming language" might be accurate in that it has such a huge standard library -- sooooo many built-in functions.
carry_bit 5y ago
If Python is a "batteries included" language, then Wolfram Language might be a "nuclear reactor included" language. Its functionality covers a broad range of domains, and keeps growing. The principle behind much of it is "maximum automation", so you have so-called "hyperfunctions" to, for example, build a classifier using machine learning. You just give it the example data, and it'll by default pick the method, etc. for you and perform the training. You can still go in and control the options if needed. The language itself has its quirks, like any 30 year old language would, but you can do a lot with a little if you know what you're doing. It's similar to Lisp in that way. The downside is that once you need to go beyond the "standard library" things are a lot more sparse, but they've been working to make it easier to get 3rd party functionality. It's the kind of language that if it was free 15 years ago would probably be all over the place today.
- fault1 5y ago
  the other cool thing about wolfram functions is that they really embrace the whole "content addressed function" idiom (like unison). code is data is a networked resource.
- dsizzle 5y ago
  One weird thing about the language, which seems contrary to this "most productive language" claim, is that it seems a bit complicated to use normal version control https://mathematica.stackexchange.com/questions/26174/what-are-the-recommended-settings-for-git-when-using-with-mathematica-projects/26180#26180 https://mathematica.stackexchange.com/questions/26174/what-a...
  - Smaug123 5y ago
    Version control is very easy as long as you're not versioning notebooks. A `.m` file is just plain text.
  - gdelfino01 5y ago
    The language is version control friendly, the notebooks are not. You explore and document using notebooks (.nb) and if your stuff get serious you should move the source code to a package (.wl or .m) which is just plain text file which is nice for version control.
    - dsizzle 5y ago
      Right, but I mean it's a notebook-based language/environment so they seem hard to uncouple. Just looking at the link I posted it seems a little complicated. Have you used Mathematica in a team situation?
      - scoopertrooper 5y ago
        You'd run into the same problem with Python notebooks. For a lot of data scientists out there, Python is a notebook based language. The Stackoverflow thread had a few other interesting ideas beyond discarding the notebooks entirely.
        dsizzle 5y ago
        Right, but no one is claiming Python notebooks is the world's most productive way to work!
- mensetmanusman 5y ago
  That’s interesting, has anyone reimplemented AlphaGo or something using Mathematica?
IiydAbITMvJkqKf 5y ago
Stephen Wolfram is highly regarded, but it's not due to his humbleness.
l0b0 5y ago
The Mathematica showcase on Code Golf[1] is by far the most impressive showcase of any language I've ever seen. (Start reading from the bottom.) [1] https://codegolf.stackexchange.com/a/44683/9570 https://codegolf.stackexchange.com/a/44683/9570
- oxfeed65261 5y ago
  This is fascinating, thank you. It seems like it might be worthwhile to learn Mathematica for use in coding interviews; many coding problems would be significantly simplified.
- rwiggins 5y ago
  It really is amazing. I spent loads of time fiddling with Mathematica in college, thanks to the cheap(ish) student license. I solved problems 1 and 2 of the 'Substitute' xkcd ( https://xkcd.com/135/ https://xkcd.com/135/ ) using it, for example, including a little `Manipulate[]` bit that let you pick a starting run angle dynamically and plotted how far you'd get. There's something really, really powerful about good interactive tools and learning math. I'm convinced my success in subjects like calculus and diff. eq. were driven by toying with programs like Mathematica. Anyway, I still find myself reaching for it occasionally. I recently used Mathematica for some FFXIV raid group statistics. Once you get accustomed to it, it's incredible how productive you can be at solving specific problems. "Nuclear reactor included" is a great turn of phrase (from above).
elliekelly 5y ago
Puffery: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffery

by htk 5y ago

"The Wolfram Cloud combines a state-of-the-art notebook interface with the world's most productive programming language" Quite the statement there, does anyone here have more info on this claim?

johnhenry 5y ago

The claim "world's most productive programming language" might be accurate in that it has such a huge standard library -- sooooo many built-in functions.

carry_bit 5y ago

If Python is a "batteries included" language, then Wolfram Language might be a "nuclear reactor included" language. Its functionality covers a broad range of domains, and keeps growing. The principle behind much of it is "maximum automation", so you have so-called "hyperfunctions" to, for example, build a classifier using machine learning. You just give it the example data, and it'll by default pick the method, etc. for you and perform the training. You can still go in and control the options if needed. The language itself has its quirks, like any 30 year old language would, but you can do a lot with a little if you know what you're doing. It's similar to Lisp in that way. The downside is that once you need to go beyond the "standard library" things are a lot more sparse, but they've been working to make it easier to get 3rd party functionality. It's the kind of language that if it was free 15 years ago would probably be all over the place today.

fault1 5y ago
the other cool thing about wolfram functions is that they really embrace the whole "content addressed function" idiom (like unison). code is data is a networked resource.
dsizzle 5y ago
One weird thing about the language, which seems contrary to this "most productive language" claim, is that it seems a bit complicated to use normal version control https://mathematica.stackexchange.com/questions/26174/what-are-the-recommended-settings-for-git-when-using-with-mathematica-projects/26180#26180 https://mathematica.stackexchange.com/questions/26174/what-a...
- Smaug123 5y ago
  Version control is very easy as long as you're not versioning notebooks. A `.m` file is just plain text.
- gdelfino01 5y ago
  The language is version control friendly, the notebooks are not. You explore and document using notebooks (.nb) and if your stuff get serious you should move the source code to a package (.wl or .m) which is just plain text file which is nice for version control.
  - dsizzle 5y ago
    Right, but I mean it's a notebook-based language/environment so they seem hard to uncouple. Just looking at the link I posted it seems a little complicated. Have you used Mathematica in a team situation?
    - scoopertrooper 5y ago
      You'd run into the same problem with Python notebooks. For a lot of data scientists out there, Python is a notebook based language. The Stackoverflow thread had a few other interesting ideas beyond discarding the notebooks entirely.
      - dsizzle 5y ago
        Right, but no one is claiming Python notebooks is the world's most productive way to work!
mensetmanusman 5y ago
That’s interesting, has anyone reimplemented AlphaGo or something using Mathematica?

IiydAbITMvJkqKf 5y ago

Stephen Wolfram is highly regarded, but it's not due to his humbleness.

l0b0 5y ago

The Mathematica showcase on Code Golf[1] is by far the most impressive showcase of any language I've ever seen. (Start reading from the bottom.) [1] https://codegolf.stackexchange.com/a/44683/9570 https://codegolf.stackexchange.com/a/44683/9570

oxfeed65261 5y ago
This is fascinating, thank you. It seems like it might be worthwhile to learn Mathematica for use in coding interviews; many coding problems would be significantly simplified.
rwiggins 5y ago
It really is amazing. I spent loads of time fiddling with Mathematica in college, thanks to the cheap(ish) student license. I solved problems 1 and 2 of the 'Substitute' xkcd ( https://xkcd.com/135/ https://xkcd.com/135/ ) using it, for example, including a little `Manipulate[]` bit that let you pick a starting run angle dynamically and plotted how far you'd get. There's something really, really powerful about good interactive tools and learning math. I'm convinced my success in subjects like calculus and diff. eq. were driven by toying with programs like Mathematica. Anyway, I still find myself reaching for it occasionally. I recently used Mathematica for some FFXIV raid group statistics. Once you get accustomed to it, it's incredible how productive you can be at solving specific problems. "Nuclear reactor included" is a great turn of phrase (from above).

elliekelly 5y ago

Puffery: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffery