Programming language for mathematicians

[dmehling]

What is a good programming language to learn for novice mathematicians, especially those who might want to eventually do mathematical modeling of problems? Also, do most mathematicians actually learn a programming language, or do they usually rely on programs like Matlab?

 

[Latrace]

Most people I know of (theoretical physicists and mathematicians) use either Mathematica (analytical/numerical), Maple (more often for analytical things) and/or Matlab (more often numerical). Tons of things there have been programmed for you, and if you want to write a new program you can do this in the own language of the program, which is very straightforward. So I would say people usually rely on programs like the ones mentioned.