[debaserab2]

I think the only valid point here is your 3rd one.

1. You have to be kidding, right? PHP's popularity is precisely because of this.

2. getcomposer.org

4. json_decode/json_encode have been a part of PHP since PHP 5.2 (2006)

5. That's not a benefit.

[bpicolo]

No, it's popularity is because it was the simplest a long time ago, and it's supported on lots of virtual boxes by default.

Composer is terrible compared to NPM.

[dubcanada]

Says you :)

And so is PHP. You cannot argue that PHP is not simple, you just can't.

And frankly I like composer, sure it doesn't do C/C++ installation stuff, but PHP doesn't need that. What is does is almost identical to NPM, the only different is one looks different, and the names.

[debaserab2]

..and how do you think it got on all of those boxes? That's a chicken/egg argument.

Composer accomplishes the goals of being a "modern package manager that works on all platforms".