[defined]

JavaScript is objectively, demonstrably a badly-designed, error-generating language for which countless libraries, generators, and higher-level languages and frameworks such as Elm and TypeScript have been created to compensate for its shortcomings - and it most especially does not belong on the server side.

It is the poster child for the "If the only tool you have is a hammer..." maxim.

Its appeal derives almost completely from its presence in probably every major browser, where it was placed for DOM manipulation and was stressed way past its design envelope over time, leading to the increasingly dystopian web development landscape we progressively inhabit.

If it is ultimately victorious, it will be in spite of its design, not because of it. Those of us who are old enough to remember will cringe at the pain we endured over the years because of the widely used Intel 808x architecture as it evolved (small/medium/large/huge memory models, and segment registers, anyone?), not because it had the greatest merit, but because of its market penetration.

History repeats itself.

[ovao]

I really don't disagree on any particular point. I only take issue with the suggestion that it simply shouldn't be an option. In the past I probably would've said the same about PHP, which sits pretty squarely in the same camp as JavaScript for its "victory despite design".

All things considered, a craftsman simply uses a tool to do a job. Often it doesn't involve much fanfare. I wouldn't say that modern JavaScript is quite as blunt an instrument as a hammer, but hey, if you're good with a hammer...