> "like octave, but with fast loops"

But the performance relies on the aggressive specialization which depends on multiple dispatch. And the adaptation to numerical computing, the cleanness and beauty is all about multiple dispatch.

To stay with the bike analogy, multiple dispatch is definitely the wheels, not the motor.

> for one, I 100% agree with your views on variable naming elsewhere on this thread ;)

Waaah! (pulls hair.) And yet, so far apart on the function naming ;)

But seriously, though. Without the incredible polymorphism and genericity, there's really nothing at all left of Julia. Multiple dispatch isn't a feature bolted onto Julia. It is the core philosophy, and the central organizing principle.