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It used to be the big differentiator was the ability to do symbolic math and actually solve equations. Maple could also do it, as could the TI89, so I never rea

It used to be the big differentiator was the ability to do symbolic math and actually solve equations. Maple could also do it, as could the TI89, so I never really got into it. It was just a huge difference from Matlab. But if I have an actually nasty equation to solve, like a system of differential equations with erf functions or something, I do actually go to wolfram alpha for help. It happens more often than I'd like, it's especially nice that no matter how nasty the equations you can still use units.

danuker 4y ago
The reason I might find Mathematica interesting is its language, which I found to be on my popularity-brevity Pareto frontier. https://danuker.go.ro/programming-languages.html#non-math-map https://danuker.go.ro/programming-languages.html#non-math-ma... So, it can express an average Rosetta Code non-math task in ~180 bytes, compared to Python, ~270, or Java, ~420. I guess this is because of its vast libraries of "batteries included". Where it all falls apart is sharing. Nobody can run my creation, and even Mathematica Home Cloud is $194/year, which I find pretty steep, being used to free & libre software. Monetizing is a whole different story, with commercial licenses starting at $1620/yr, which I could only justify if I already had a team wanting to learn the language and a large-ish profitable business service whose source code I wanted to convert to a locked-in solution for some reason.
- SomeHacker44 4y ago
  I bought a one time home license for like $200ish a number of years ago and it still works, and will likely work forever. I have transferred it between computers and even OSes over time. Worth it. I pay as much for JetBrains annuallt and way more for the Adobe stuff I use maybe twice a year.
  - whitten 4y ago
    Are one-time licenses a thing of the past ?
    - danuker 4y ago
      A permanent home/hobby license for Desktop costs $387, as far as I can tell. It only allows 4 cores being used, and for more you need to buy Core Extensions.
      - buescher 4y ago
        They do make some attempts on their web site to steer you into the yearly subscription, or into buying a yearly support contract if you do buy a permanent license, so some folks might not realize the permanent licenses are still available without a support contract. They also run regular sales on all their products. Pi day is coming up.

danuker 4y ago

The reason I might find Mathematica interesting is its language, which I found to be on my popularity-brevity Pareto frontier. https://danuker.go.ro/programming-languages.html#non-math-map https://danuker.go.ro/programming-languages.html#non-math-ma... So, it can express an average Rosetta Code non-math task in ~180 bytes, compared to Python, ~270, or Java, ~420. I guess this is because of its vast libraries of "batteries included". Where it all falls apart is sharing. Nobody can run my creation, and even Mathematica Home Cloud is $194/year, which I find pretty steep, being used to free & libre software. Monetizing is a whole different story, with commercial licenses starting at $1620/yr, which I could only justify if I already had a team wanting to learn the language and a large-ish profitable business service whose source code I wanted to convert to a locked-in solution for some reason.

SomeHacker44 4y ago
I bought a one time home license for like $200ish a number of years ago and it still works, and will likely work forever. I have transferred it between computers and even OSes over time. Worth it. I pay as much for JetBrains annuallt and way more for the Adobe stuff I use maybe twice a year.
- whitten 4y ago
  Are one-time licenses a thing of the past ?
  - danuker 4y ago
    A permanent home/hobby license for Desktop costs $387, as far as I can tell. It only allows 4 cores being used, and for more you need to buy Core Extensions.
    - buescher 4y ago
      They do make some attempts on their web site to steer you into the yearly subscription, or into buying a yearly support contract if you do buy a permanent license, so some folks might not realize the permanent licenses are still available without a support contract. They also run regular sales on all their products. Pi day is coming up.