Mathematica: August 2011

Here are 10 good reasons to use Mathematica:

1. Multiparadigm language: the richness of the language allows to pick for any problem a programming paradigm or style which corresponds to it most directly. You spend most of the time thinking about the problem rather than implementation. The very high level of the language means that a lot of work is done for you by the system.

2. Interactivity. Mathematica is an interpreted language, which allows interactive and incremental program development. The Mathematica front - end adds another layer of interactivity, being able to display various forms of input and output (and this can be controlled programmatically). Yet another layer of interactivity is added by many new features of version 6.

3. Programming in the large. The typically small size and high level of abstraction of the code allows a single person to manage substantial projects. There is also a built-in support for large projects through the system of packages.

3. Built-ins. Availability of thousands of built-in functions makes it possible to do sophisticated analysis very quickly. Extended error message system (each built-in function can issue a lot of error messages on improper inputs) greatly simplifies debugging.

4. Genericity, higher-order functions and tight system integration. The very general principles of Mathematica, its uniform expression structure, generic nature of many built-in functions, and tight integration of all components allows to use all other built-in functions much easier than one would use libraries in other languages. The Help system is also uniform and it is immediate to learn the functionality of any built-in function that you have never used before.

6. Visualizations. Great dynamic and visualization capabilities (especially in version 6).

7. Cross-platform. The Mathematica code developed in one environment or OS will work in exactly the same way in all others where Mathematica is available.

8. Connectivity: the developers keep increasing the number of file formats which Mathematica can understand and process. Also, tools like MathLink , J/Link , database connectivity etc. allow one to connect Mathematica to external programs

9. Backward compatibility: since the version 1 and up to these days developers are careful to maintain very high level of backwards compatibility. This means that one should not worry too much that solutions developed in the current version will need a rewrite to work on the future versions (apart from possible improvements related to availability of new built - in functions, if one is so inclined).

10. Support for parallel and distributed computing.

Taken From Mathematica Programming