Python: Python has clearly becoming my first choice for tackling any problem. Whether it involved analysing the many trajectories generated by  the channel finding program HOLE , or writing an http based API for Bioscreencast , or an HTTP based web service for Bioscreencastwiki, python has ensured that I can get it done . There is no problem that I dont attempt to solve using python . Python has even ensured that  I jettison a desire to pick up Excel and instead adopt Resolver one , the pythonic spreadsheet instead . My only problem with python is the learning curve to pick up a new API . The dynamic typing sure makes it hard to unravel code by just reading source , something that I was used to doing having leant to code in Java. Further , tools like netbeans and Eclipse with code completion also make it easier to familiarize yourself with a new API  in Java  . In python , I still go about it using the dir builtin function and reading the various forms of python documentation available on the web. In some ways I really cannot wait for something like nbpython to become fully useable.

Java : Since I am still developing code to solve problems for myself or web-centic problems for an apache based webserver . I have almost not written a single line of java code the last year.  Python  has ensured that java takes a backseat.

Javascript : To me javascript is  mainly a UI language , since I regard the browser as the ultimate UI . Since I have yet to get into the UI writing mode , my javascript useage over the last year was restricted to troubleshooting the few glitches we had at Bioscreencast . Again tool support ( like the amazing firebug utility or even netbeans) ensure that I dont abandon picking up javascript in my spare time and definitely plan to use javascript and a browser as my UI of choice  when the need arises.

Excel : Having got on to the python horse, I can hardly justify the headaches that mastering Excel syntaz gave me . And for most simple spreadhsheets I have gotten used to Google spreadsheets.

Matlab: My desire to master matlab was to understand the many algorihtms I encounter in X-ray crystallography. In may ways Python and MatPlotlib have ensured that I can get a lot of that done using python , without the need to learn the Matlab way of things . I have also attended a few Mathematica Seminars and am extremely impressed with the Mathemtica 6 ( and 7) platform . For understanding algotihms and the behavior of functions etc I have been turning to Mathematica and python more than Matlab.

So in summary , python and the pythonic way are what I have  embraced in 2008 and really want to start writing python code that starts to build on this foundation in 2009.I am also really starting to use Mathematica and pick up processing as a java centric visualization platform and hope to write about these in this new year.