You can add C++ to that list. It seems the pattern goes like this (with examples for C++, Java, Javascript) 1) There is an unmet need in the current technolo

You can add C++ to that list. It seems the pattern goes like this (with examples for C++, Java, Javascript) 1) There is an unmet need in the current technology ( e.g. C can't organize huge complexity, native app crashing is not tolerable on the web, web 2.0 is incompatible with full server side html generation). 2) A current techical powerhouse withbopen enough culture has a solution fixing it, while leaving current knowledge mostly intact ( C++ is C with classes, Java is safe C++, javascript is webified Java) 3) The powerhouse tech is used everywhere because it's voice is heard louder than the small playser, and also everyone wants to feel like a big player.( at&t, sun, google/facebook) 4) A cambrian explosion pops up full of components and frameworks. Most of them dies, nobody knows what tobbet on long term. The new good tech is both used and abused on every possible problem. 5) Things settle down, we learn what to use the tech for. 6) Circumstances change, we start fighting our tools, and the cycle starts again. The new group will not understand why the old guard is still loving their old klunkers (C illegal behaviour, Java XML), even if they have to construct a strawman first. In fact, both Cobol and C might be exampled of this, but they were before my time. There are plenty of smaller examples out there.