I know that this isn't anything to do with Neural Nets, but on the same topic of using the tool the professor suggests.

In my fourth year (of 6 :-}), in a "C/C++" course (I use the term extremely loosely since the professor was completely out to lunch), we were told we had a choice of tools. We could use Borland C++ for DOS, or we could use GCC on HP to develop our software. What a joke - the project included talking to a proprietary device (D/A, A/D converter) on an I/O port. How the professor envisioned using an HP workstation to talk to this proprietary device is beyond me. And the project involved graphing the input to the screen (using Borland's APIs for graphics) - which is unlikely to work on HP (learning X at the same time as dealing with this professor was not really an option).

Eventually, I told the professor how full of it he was, to his face, he gave me the highest mark allowed (9 in the stanine system), and told me not to show up again.

Short version: use what the professor tells you - nothing else is likely to work.

PS - I took a software project course in my last semester where the professor didn't even suggest a language. We used C++, most everyone else used Java. But the professor did not have any bias in languages. So it really didn't matter. (I got my only other 9 in my life in this course.) But when a professor "suggests" something, usually it's more of a "command" in the guise of being open-minded. Use Matlab. :-)