An important practical consideration is the language employed within the working group, or in the sub-field. For one-off code written by an expert, this doesn'

An important practical consideration is the language employed within the working group, or in the sub-field. For one-off code written by an expert, this doesn't matter much, and criteria such as those mentioned in the article might be paramount. In many cases, however, code starts off as a modification of something that already exists, and forms a seed from which other new things might spring. If everyone chooses their own language, collaboration can be hard. In an academic environment, cost is a serious factor that argues against Matlab. Even in a place with a site license, somebody must be paying, and many groups have grown weary of the expense, particularly because it locks their students into a language that might not be available to them wherever they go after graduation.