It's permissiveness means you can hit the ground running more easily writing shitty but functional code, and web dev has long been the gateway for new entrants

It's permissiveness means you can hit the ground running more easily writing shitty but functional code, and web dev has long been the gateway for new entrants to engineering. People start programming, learn shitty habits from a shitty language ,and then the religious affinity for programming languages that many have starts to kick in. This obviously doesn't explain every Javascript fan, but the tendency is strong enough to shift the dynamics of the community. I can't say I relate to the religious fervor with which people defend programming languages. C++ is probably my favorite language to work in, but I absolutely understand where the hatred for it comes from. I readily admit that it's grotesque in many ways and my preference is likely for lack of sustained exposure to certain other modern languages.