C came with an OS. C++ came with compatibility with C and at the peak or near peak of OO hype. Javascript came with the browser making it probably the most widely available language platform. Swift came with Objective-C compatibility, an OS, and money (iOS app store customers spend more on apps than their Android counterparts).

Coming with a platform that is widely available or compatibility with an existing language on a platform was the killer feature for each.

Yeah, this is a more honest assessment than the others I've read here.

Of course them being ISO(like) standards with competing implementations/tools was also important for C, C++ and Java as the cost to use and learn them was higher in the days before free open source languages, free tutorials and help forums became so wide spread.

But yeah official platform support and big company backing are a big part of why these languages have stuck around compared to others.