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C and C++ are efficient for general-purpose programming, if you know how to use them. C is here to stay because it is lingua franca of the computing world: OS A

by zvrba 15y ago

C and C++ are efficient for general-purpose programming, if you know how to use them. C is here to stay because it is lingua franca of the computing world: OS APIs are defined in terms of C functions, and I know of no libraries in wide-spread use that do not offer a C or C++ interface. People otherwise rightfully challenge his conclusions. There's a funny comment there about matlab: "MATLAB struck me as being the wrong tool for every problem."

Peaker 15y ago
Matlab may be a pretty bad language, but it gives access to a huge (and growing) body of existing code.
- wickedchicken 15y ago
  If you're an engineer (like an engineer engineer, not a software engineer) 90% of the time matlab has some module built-in or for sale that simply solves the problem you have. For example: http://www.mathworks.de/products/dsp-system/demos.html?file=/products/demos/shipping/dsp/adaptfxlmsdemo.html http://www.mathworks.de/products/dsp-system/demos.html?file=... The code to construct an LMS filter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Least_mean_squares_filter#LMS_algorithm_summary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Least_mean_squares_filter#LMS_a...) is effectively one line: h = adaptfilt.filtxlms(L,muW,1,Hhat);
  - KingMob 15y ago
    You've hit the nail on the head. This is exactly why Matlab is so pervasive in science. Not because it's actually good, but because it has so many handy libraries. The Mathworks is the Microsoft of science. I had to use Matlab for seven years in neuroscience, and it's a terrible language for everything other than matrix math, data plotting, and (if you cough up for the Parallel Computing Toolbox) easy parallelization.
    - rcfox 15y ago
      Somewhat off-topic: Have you heard of the Neural Engineering Framework? http://ctn.uwaterloo.ca/~cnrglab/?q=node/10 http://ctn.uwaterloo.ca/~cnrglab/?q=node/10 It's got a Python (well, Jython) scripting interface and can also interact with Matlab.
      - KingMob 15y ago
        No, I hadn't heard of it, but I was operating slightly higher, in cognitive neuroscience, and doing a lot of fMRI and intracranial EEG work. For those domains, the biggest packages are SPM and Fieldtrip, both of which run on Matlab. I do, however, hope that Python will push out Matlab one day.
fauigerzigerk 15y ago
There are many widely used Java libraries.

by zvrba 15y ago

Peaker 15y ago

Matlab may be a pretty bad language, but it gives access to a huge (and growing) body of existing code.

wickedchicken 15y ago
If you're an engineer (like an engineer engineer, not a software engineer) 90% of the time matlab has some module built-in or for sale that simply solves the problem you have. For example: http://www.mathworks.de/products/dsp-system/demos.html?file=/products/demos/shipping/dsp/adaptfxlmsdemo.html http://www.mathworks.de/products/dsp-system/demos.html?file=... The code to construct an LMS filter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Least_mean_squares_filter#LMS_algorithm_summary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Least_mean_squares_filter#LMS_a...) is effectively one line: h = adaptfilt.filtxlms(L,muW,1,Hhat);
- KingMob 15y ago
  You've hit the nail on the head. This is exactly why Matlab is so pervasive in science. Not because it's actually good, but because it has so many handy libraries. The Mathworks is the Microsoft of science. I had to use Matlab for seven years in neuroscience, and it's a terrible language for everything other than matrix math, data plotting, and (if you cough up for the Parallel Computing Toolbox) easy parallelization.
  - rcfox 15y ago
    Somewhat off-topic: Have you heard of the Neural Engineering Framework? http://ctn.uwaterloo.ca/~cnrglab/?q=node/10 http://ctn.uwaterloo.ca/~cnrglab/?q=node/10 It's got a Python (well, Jython) scripting interface and can also interact with Matlab.
    - KingMob 15y ago
      No, I hadn't heard of it, but I was operating slightly higher, in cognitive neuroscience, and doing a lot of fMRI and intracranial EEG work. For those domains, the biggest packages are SPM and Fieldtrip, both of which run on Matlab. I do, however, hope that Python will push out Matlab one day.

fauigerzigerk 15y ago

There are many widely used Java libraries.