[cm2187]

On large platforms, I am going to piss off people but I'll do it anyway. It's not because a language is widely used that it is a well designed language. Javascript, VBA and php immediatly come to my mind. There are many other reasons for a language to be a heavy weight other than its own merit.

[eldavido]

This reminds me of Peter Lynch's comment about the stock market: "a voting machine in the short term, but a weighing machine in the long term".

In the short-term, languages with good developer outreach and other factors win. But you don't get things like generics or the .NET TPL without some serious long-term vision. I really do believe well-designed languages win over a long enough timescale.

[candiodari]

There are many metrics to judge a programming language by, and even different "axes". Going from theoretical correctness, consistency, type system soundness all the way to ease of development, "batteries included", empowerment, developer productivity (on small and very large programs, as that is not the same), and more recently "forcing" good practices.

Even popularity is a value, as it automatically provides a community, but it's also a pitfall, as massive popularity inevitably means the average programmer of language X becomes as smart, careful and reliable as the average programmer irrespective of language. And, to put it mildly, that's not a positive evolution. That, above all others, was VB and Delphi's downfall.

On three axes, I would argue VB, Javascript and Delphi did/do incredibly well: ease of development (of small-ish programs), and the deployment story, as well as the empowerment they provided.

On things like consistency, developer productivity, batteries included (Delphi was better on the batteries included front), type system soundness, ... they were somewhat sub-par.

It's just what people value at the time. And of course, it is critical during a career in development to distinguish yourself from the average programmer.