title: Why is fortran used for scientific computing?
body: <p>I've read that Fortran is still heavily used for scientific computing. For code already heavily invested in Fortran this makes sense to me.</p>
  
  <p>But is there a reason to use Fortran over other modern languages for a new project? Are there language design decisions in Fortran that makes it much more suitable for scientific computing compared to say the more popular languages (C++, Java, Python, Ruby, etc.)? For example, are there specific language features of Fortran that maybe allow numeric optimization in compilers to a much higher degree compared to other languages I mentioned?</p>