GNU Octave babban harshe ne, wanda aka yi niyya da farko don ƙididdige ƙididdiga. Yana ba da ingantaccen layin umarni don magance matsalolin layi da marasa layi a lamba, da kuma yin wasu gwaje-gwajen lambobi ta amfani da yaren da ya fi dacewa da Matlab. Hakanan ana iya amfani da shi azaman yaren da ya dace da tsari.

Octave has extensive tools for solving common numerical linear algebra problems, finding the roots of nonlinear equations, integrating ordinary functions, manipulating polynomials, and integrating ordinary differential and differential-algebraic equations. Yana da sauƙin sassauƙa kuma ana iya daidaita shi ta hanyar fayyace ayyukan mai amfani da aka rubuta a cikin yaren Octave, ko ta amfani da ɗimbin kaya masu ƙarfi da aka rubuta cikin C++, C, Fortran, ko wasu harsuna.