On the role of computer languages in scientific computing

International audienceScientific software are complex software systems. Their engineering involves various stakeholders using specific computer languages for defining artifacts at different abstraction levels and for different purposes. In this paper, we review the overall process leading to the development of scientific software, and discuss the role of computer languages in the definition of the different artifacts. We then provide guidelines to make informed decisions when the time comes to choose the computer languages to use when developing scientific software