As a student, I say just try everything you can and decide for yourself. Mathematica is basically a huge collection of already-implemented scientific algorithms. So, no more hunting for Python packages that may or may not work. The main downside is most people outside academia avoid proprietary languages -- and it's expensive for commercial use.
I'd say out of the box Mathematica has ... nicer visualizations, more available functions, better symbolic math, etc. It might be possible to get some similar functionality in Python, but it would be a hassle. On the other hand, Python will have the bleeding-edge latest implementations since more people code in it.
That said, Mathematica does keep up to date. For example, the latest version auto-imports neural net/LLM weights, visualizes their structure, and lets you capture values from anywhere in the circuit. IMO it's great for learning how they work. And it has some neat ChatGPT integrations, auto-runs code, etc.
Thank you for the resources!
Given that I already can handle myself around viz and algorithmic necessities, I can see the benefit of a centralized source of algorithms and plots. (But, after working a buck with Python and R I still can't find a better plotting library than ggplot2 :D)
My main interest is in algebraic manipulations. like trying to integrate symbolically or mapping between complicated sets, some optimization, etc.
But I'm ahead of myself... I should check those resources you sent me, and then form a better notion of what it is that I want :D
ggplot2 is not the best visualization solution. It is simple, easy to learn and provides majority of plots you will need. But it cannot do everything and is not best in everything.
I'd say out of the box Mathematica has ... nicer visualizations, more available functions, better symbolic math, etc. It might be possible to get some similar functionality in Python, but it would be a hassle. On the other hand, Python will have the bleeding-edge latest implementations since more people code in it.
That said, Mathematica does keep up to date. For example, the latest version auto-imports neural net/LLM weights, visualizes their structure, and lets you capture values from anywhere in the circuit. IMO it's great for learning how they work. And it has some neat ChatGPT integrations, auto-runs code, etc.
- This is my favorite intro Mathematica book (for programmers/academic-minded people): https://www.amazon.com/Mathematica%C2%AE-Problem-Centered-Ap....
- There are also good free tutorials like their Fast Intro for Programmers: https://www.wolfram.com/language/fast-introduction-for-progr...