In my case it was Q vs R. For what I was trying to achieve and with my level of statistics background R was an obvious choice.
The language/runtime AND RStudio are entirely free. Give it a try!
kdb+ is the only tool I've come across that solidly managed to outperform data.table for data processing. I have huge respect for good Q programmers
Likewise. A good kdb dev is a very rare and intelligent beast, hats off.
I'm just too stupid to be able to comprehend much of Kx's ideas and so R was just much more appealing to me.
In my experience even bad Q programmers can outperform. The language and underlying engine is pretty efficient...
...better set of options:
1. for fun
2. get a job or job done
3. all of above