tea.mathoverflow.net - Discussion Feed (Is Matlab a respectable language?)

José Figueroa comments on "Is Matlab a respectable language?" (11734)

2010-12-12T08:02:06-08:00

I've voted to close. I really do not think that this is appropriate for MO, at least in its present state. I agree with Harald that this is potentially flame bait.

Scott Carnahan comments on "Is Matlab a respectable language?" (11733)

2010-12-12T07:48:59-08:00

I would vote to close for reasons of Subjective and Argumentative if my vote weren't so powerful. Bold guess: the OP is a major fan, and is trying to settle an argument with a dogmatic third party by appealing to the masses.

In any case, I think the answer is Yes. I'm not a specialist, but when I taught a graduate numerical methods class last year, the curriculum had been centered around Matlab.

Harald Hanche-Olsen comments on "Is Matlab a respectable language?" (11732)

2010-12-12T07:45:03-08:00

I don't think it's a good question. It virtually asks for a language flamefest, which is one of the deadliest, most counter-productive ways to use the Internet. (Short answer: Language X is fine if it suits your purpose. Without knowing that purpose, no one can say anything sensible about it.) Unless it is seriously reworked, I am all for closing it. But now that we have this meta discussion thread, I'll hold back for a little while.

WillieWong comments on "Is Matlab a respectable language?" (11730)

2010-12-12T07:33:37-08:00

See this question. The question can use some editing (at least formatting into paragraphs, and possibly toning down some of the word uses so it doesn't sound as plaintive). But is this, in general, a good question for MO?