My main experience of MATLAB is fixing pathetic spaghetti code from non-programmers (think of complex "scientific models" with no concept of DRY principles), and wasting hours trying to adjust their MATLAB scripts to do things that are trivial in just about any other high-level language out there. The "Abandon MATLAB" [1] blog has several articles that really resonate with me; it's a great read if you enjoy a good rant.
That said, the problem with MATLAB is not a lack of learning resources. On the contrary, in my experience the MATLAB docs are nearly unsurpassed; all that money pays for something! The problem with MATLAB is that it is primarily used by those with no general programming knowledge or broader experience, who are therefore tolerant of insane defects and defaults out of ignorance that there is a better way to do things. If it were any other way, they would not have added a gigantic Microsoft-esque ribbon interface to the latest iteration of MATLAB 2013.
If I were a Christian, I would thank God daily that MATLAB has a ridiculously high price. The expensive enterprise licensing means its use is limited mainly to a few demographics of deep-pocketed non-programmers (e.g. scientists at large universities), and I can continue to rely on the choice of MATLAB as a major code smell.
That said, the problem with MATLAB is not a lack of learning resources. On the contrary, in my experience the MATLAB docs are nearly unsurpassed; all that money pays for something! The problem with MATLAB is that it is primarily used by those with no general programming knowledge or broader experience, who are therefore tolerant of insane defects and defaults out of ignorance that there is a better way to do things. If it were any other way, they would not have added a gigantic Microsoft-esque ribbon interface to the latest iteration of MATLAB 2013.
If I were a Christian, I would thank God daily that MATLAB has a ridiculously high price. The expensive enterprise licensing means its use is limited mainly to a few demographics of deep-pocketed non-programmers (e.g. scientists at large universities), and I can continue to rely on the choice of MATLAB as a major code smell.
[1]: http://abandonmatlab.wordpress.com/
Also amusing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lBeungEnx4