You are exactly right about the pros and cons of Python. It is a general-purpose language that introduces frictions that paying for by around 1000 loc.
But MATLAB not perfect, it has spiky bits and traps for newbies. (And the feature that '' == matrix multiply != the multiplication you almost always want is one of those traps). Also students will* write complicated (perhaps overcomplicated) programs that expose MATLAB's limits.
So what about other languages designed for numerics? Would R be a better choice (I haven't used it). Or maybe a new language should be invented. After all Matlab might be easier overall, but it still has plenty of stupid spiky stuff. And I would count your multiplication example as one of the (milder) stupidities.
But MATLAB not perfect, it has spiky bits and traps for newbies. (And the feature that '' == matrix multiply != the multiplication you almost always want is one of those traps). Also students will* write complicated (perhaps overcomplicated) programs that expose MATLAB's limits.
So what about other languages designed for numerics? Would R be a better choice (I haven't used it). Or maybe a new language should be invented. After all Matlab might be easier overall, but it still has plenty of stupid spiky stuff. And I would count your multiplication example as one of the (milder) stupidities.