Not to mention coding bootcamps. For those with short memories, Java didn't achieve its dominance based on Sun's marketing alone. Sure, that played a role, but Java was also convenient for universities to roll out as a language for instruction, usually displacing the likes of C++ and Pascal. It became the first language for millions of developers, many of whom wouldn't have much exposure to anything else.

For a while, it looked like Python had a shot at becoming the next dominant teaching language. Then the coding bootcamps realized they could save money and retain more students if they pitched JavaScript as the language for client and server. And so millions more developers are emerging with little exposure to anything outside JavaScript.