> JS (...) is designed to support hot reloading

no it's not lol. hmr is an outrageous hack of the language. however, the fact JS can accommodate such shenanigans is really what you mean.

sorry I don't mean to be a pedantic ass. i just think it's fascinating how languages that are "poorly" designed can end up being so damn useful in the future. i think that says something about design.

ESM has Hot Module Reloading. When you import a symbol it gives you a handle to that symbol rather than a plain reference, so that if the module changes the symbol will too.