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Network effects are very strong for languages.

Better query languages than SQL could exist, but there's so much existing code and expertise out there that it's not worth the effort. Better backend languages than Java can & do exist but don't have the same enterprise popularity.

Developers, projects and companies have an immense incentives to target the most popular programming language.

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peutetre 6 days ago | parent [-]

JavaScript's one advantage was that it was the privileged language in the browser. It has lost that now.

JavaScript has entered its Walking Dead phase. It will gradually be displaced by all languages compiling to WebAssembly.

	▲	spacebanana7 6 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		JavaScript’s main advantage is being commonly familiar to most software engineers. The English language similarly lost its position as the preeminent imperial language a long time ago, so too with Latin & Rome. It takes a long time for a popular language to die because everyone wants to speak what everybody else speaks.
	▲	saulpw 6 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		WASM has a lot of shortcomings. You can't even update the DOM without doing a worker dance.