Of course Mathematica is good at succinctly expressing mathematical functions.
I'd like to see how much Mathematica code it'd take to write a compiler or web server.
I'd like to see how much Mathematica code it'd take to write a compiler or web server.
the reason you don't see more general-purpose code written in Mathematica is simply because it's a proprietary environment. you can't share general-purpose programs that are written in Mathematica
Admittedly, there are bugs, and the performance is not as good as Mathematica, but a lot of progress has been made (For example, PyPy compatibility is planed for the upcoming release). Give it some time, and I think (hope) it will grow to fill this niche.
Also, The fact that Mathics is open, allows you to extend it (in Python for example) with minimal effort.
Disclaimer: I contribute to Mathics development in my free time. We are hoping to get more people involved!