I’m preparing for MCM/ICM 2019 and many resources show that Matlab is the best programming language for mathematical modeling competition. But I don’t think I have enough time to learn it from the very beginning. Fortunately I have been familiar with python. So I wonder if I could focus all my energy on modeling using python?
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If you have a good knowledge of numpy/scipy/pandas/matplotlib, possibly also scikit-learn, statsmodels and others, it should be okay. The main risk is you need a mathematical function that is not yet in those libraries or is buggy. However, Python is arguably much simpler and its types and libraries (dict/set, regular expressions...) could help you get things done quickly. My advice: look at the past problems to see if Python would be too limited. After a quick look, it seems to me Python is good for this, possibily even better (but I know Python quite well, so I may be biased). – Jean-Claude Arbaut Nov 24 '18 at 09:41
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However, keep in mind that you won't have functionality found in the many toolboxes of Matlab. With Python, you get more or less the equivalent of a "naked" Matlab with no toolbox (except maybe for machine learning). Depending on what your university can provide you, it could make a huge difference. – Jean-Claude Arbaut Nov 24 '18 at 09:44
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@Jean-ClaudeArbaut I see. Your comment is really helpful. Especially the “naked matlab”, really easy to understand. – Nov 25 '18 at 05:55