Language · 1995–now · Platform Wars
JavaScript
The only language that runs in every browser. Accidental monopoly turned deliberate platform.
Why JavaScript stuck
JavaScript stuck because browsers chose it and npm turned it into the largest package graph on Earth. Alternatives compile to it instead of fighting it. Hating JS is a hobby; shipping web is a job.
Compare with
Related
Language · 2012–now
TypeScript
JS with a typechecker that conquered the ecosystem — then a native Go compiler that made `tsc` an order of magnitude faster. The rare fad that became the floor.
Framework · 2013–now
React
Components and unidirectional data. Won the front-end by being good enough and having a gravitational ecosystem.
Platform · 2009–now
Node.js
JS on the server. Unified the stack and created a package ecosystem that is both miracle and hazard.