Same here, I use python at work for ML related stuff on daily basis for the reason pretty much everyone else chooses python over ruby ('that's what everyone else in my company uses and it just has more mature ML libraries and greater support'), but countless times have I caught myself thinking while writing python code: 'this could have been much cleaner and shorter code had I used ruby and its blocks'. It's a shame.
Would you like some code review to improve your Python?
I agree. I love Ruby. Not just the language, but the values of the community. Don't give up. Try SciRuby. I also recently discovered pycall, for those times when something really doesn't exist yet in Ruby. Of course, if it doesn't exist, that's an opportunity to make it yourself!
I'm doing machine learning in Python ... this is because there is no choice. Given a choice, i'd use Ruby rather than Python.
because there is no choice
You could be using R or MATLAB certainly, there are still choices in this space
C++, R, Matlab, etc. There is plenty of choice.
All you mentioned is not better choice, C++ is not suited for ML / startups (I was a hardcore C++ programmer). As for R & Mathlab, i think they are not suited for ppl with CS background, they are more suited for people with maths background.