Does the JIT help (Score 1)

I'm a big MATLAB fan, and worked at The MathWorks for 5 yrs. The latest release includes a built-in JIT (Just In Time compiler) which automatically compiles loops before running them - the feel and use is the same as before (feels interactive), but you can get a serious speedup; it could be worth looking at (brand new stuff, just released this week).

Netlib is FORTRAN-ish, but has a significant amount of C, too. Many languages, MATLAB included, allow you to call C and FORTRAN code from their languages. So why not use the best of all these worlds? Pick your favorite language that provides you with an API to functions implemented in other languages, and use it.

I prefer MATLAB for *many* reasons, but regardless of what you pick odds are you can still mix-and-match languages to some extent. Microsoft's CLR is a big step in this direction, too, but that's a whole other thread...

-- Nabeel