JavaScript became popular because it was the only(1) language that did what it did -- scripting in the browser. It has become popular on the server side lately(2) partly because some people are reluctant to learn another language, and partly because people believed that Node's nonblocking hype was something new.
(1) Yes, there were others from MS, but only JS has been cross-platform and cross-browser.
(2) Node.js wasn't the first server-side JS environment, but it was the first to be popular.
(1) Yes, there were others from MS, but only JS has been cross-platform and cross-browser.
(2) Node.js wasn't the first server-side JS environment, but it was the first to be popular.