I wrote:
> I made extensive use of Mathematica during my PhD in computational
> chemistry (2000-2004) which taught me about the power of term rewriting in
> the context of mathematical computing and led me into functional
> programming...
Michele Simionato wrote:
> I was first exposed to functional programming when using Mathematica
> for symbolic computations in High Energy Phisics...
Szabolcs wrote:
> I learned about functional programming through Mathematica (not really a
> general purpose language, but it is very good at what it was designed
> for)...
Interesting to see that Mathematica has had such a large influence...
I find Mathematica fascinating not only because it is an incredibly
productive language that successfully carved itself a substantial niche but
also because it is a very successful commercial product built from the
ground up by Wolfram Research. IIRC, Stephen Wolfram is now a billionaire
thanks almost entirely to this one product.
I also get the impression that programming language researchers could learn
a lot from Mathematica were it not for its high cost. Mathematica's
language is very unusual and very productive and, in particular, is built
upon foundations that have long since been dismissed by many researchers as
impractical. Mathematica is really the nearest language to Lisp that has
actually been a success.
--
Dr Jon D Harrop, Flying Frog Consultancy Ltd.
http://www.ffconsultancy.com/?u