It's true, but there is an interesting mitigating effect here. If at some point you come across an old project that appears to be a product of herculean effort,

It's true, but there is an interesting mitigating effect here. If at some point you come across an old project that appears to be a product of herculean effort, note that these days its a matter of a few days effort. The platform that JS is based upon moves incredibly fast.