> R shows how you can succeed just fine with a kinda weird language.
One thing that most people don't appreciate about R is the subtle influence from lisp world. This makes it really feel like the language is optimized for data science down to the most basic syntax level.
I believe that R was originally an implementation of S in Scheme, because of the restrictive commercial licensing of S and the desire to have a free-as-in-beer alternative that was S-compatible. This comes through in things like R's metaprogramming:
One thing that most people don't appreciate about R is the subtle influence from lisp world. This makes it really feel like the language is optimized for data science down to the most basic syntax level.