In the past decade, the programming languages C++, FORTRAN 90 and Oberon-2 allevolved from their ancestors. This invites to reflect upon the suitability ofthese modern programming languages for scientific and engineering computing. Inthe first part, we compare their primary language features, as needed byscientists and engineers. In the second part, we list some useful featuresmissing in Oberon-2. The report concludes by a personal assessment of the threelanguages with respect to the numerical context. The reader's experience inscientific programming in C or FORTRAN would be advantageous.