Another point that shows a unique Octave advantage: script files.
Octave is not limited to a single function per .m file (a stupid
limitation in Matlab that effectively prevents building
standalone apps in a single file). That is, Octave is a real
scripting language, and it is possible to write a complex program
involving many functions in a single script file that is marked
executable and runnable from the Unix command line.
Tom Holroyd, Ph.D.
We experience the world not as it is, but as we expect it to be.