Python is gathering momentum now that pandas has brought a proper dataframe object to the language. Python is multi-paradigm, so you can write functional code when you need, objects when you want them, or scripts if it is convenient. Most people I know who are not using python complain of needing 3 or 4 languages to cover their needs (perl for data munging, R/Matlab for research, C/C++/C#/Java for production.

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