Compatibility with MATLAB syntax.

If you're in a Mathematical Research or Engineering context then you will likely have some models or systems that someone else has written in MATLAB.

If you're writing your own code and you have freedom over your environment then you should pick the best language for your use case.

> What value can Octave give me, relative to python?

For me the main thing is that math is "native", I don't need to import anything to start doing linear algebra. In python, doing math seems like an afterthought. For example, python offers you strings and dictionaries out of the box, but not ndarrays. In Octave, it is exactly the opposite, and it just feels right.

To me the biggest value octave gives me is its ease of use. When you are trying to learn a new mathematical concept and are manipulating matrices and vectors, Octave/ Matlab is a breeze. Compared to other languages that require you to call the `dot()` function.

Additionally compared to python's matplotlib, Octave / Matlab's plotting syntax is much simpler. Not faster but its functional.

In short, its a great educational tool, prototyping mathematical / engineering models. Bad for production use where you are using the code base to actually solve an engineering / science problem.

A REPL-oriented IDE with integrated debugger and convenient matrix inspection/editing tools.

Relatively terse syntax for array/matrix operations.

You have some crusty MATLAB code that does an analysis exactly the way you need it. It was either written by someone who is long gone, or you don't have the resources to rewrite it in 202x's new computational language.

A horror show mentally reconciling its one-based indexing with the zero-based indexing you're used to in Python.

The use of a zero is admittedly a relatively new concept, and it may not catch on.