The Wolfram Language has advantages over other languages with its built-in access to dynamic, real-world data.Īs an undergrad, my first project using Python was writing a Monte Carlo simulation that was based on a set of previous example returns to estimate a simple return on investment.

The Wolfram Language works best when written to take advantage of its strengths instead of mirroring programming styles used by other languages.

I could quickly mirror my undergrad Python code in the Wolfram Language, but ended up learning two very important lessons: So one Saturday, I sat down at my computer to figure out the Wolfram Language’s functionality by rewriting an assignment from my undergraduate Introduction to Computing course. Although I had been exposed to Mathematica multiple times during my Ph.D., I had never thought of the Wolfram Language being comparable to Python and didn’t realize it could be used for “actual” programming until I started working at Wolfram. research group is a strong Mathematica user and suggested I double-check results originally analyzed using Python with his Mathematica notebook. I was introduced to Mathematica in graduate school in my advanced quantum mechanics course, during the first semester of my Ph.D. My undergraduate research demanded that I learn bash scripting and Tcl and that I continue using Python. This interest continued through college, where I was classically trained in both Python and Java but continued to use Wolfram|Alpha for math and chemistry.

I discovered Wolfram in high school, where I was - and still am! - fascinated by Wolfram|Alpha’s natural language capability and knowledgebase. I very quickly felt comfortable using Mathematica in both of these capacities, but I had yet to truly use it as a programming platform with the Wolfram Language.

Since I started working at Wolfram, I have been almost exclusively using Mathematica, not only as computing software but also as a program in which to write documents. The following was written by David Stevens and was originally published on the Wolfram Blog.

Wolfram cloud mathematica