This is nothing new. Back when I was starting, it was all about "JS libraries"; when Prototype.js gained the most traction at one point, beating in popularity

This is nothing new. Back when I was starting, it was all about "JS libraries"; when Prototype.js gained the most traction at one point, beating in popularity older Dojo. Still, there were new libs popping up again and again — Mootools, MochiKit, YUI, jQuery. jQuery "won" by introducing a simple and powerful concept of operating on collections via an intuitive API. Then there were modules — AMD, Require.js, Common.js, etc. New "standards" and libraries competed and everyone claimed to be the best. Then Backbone and others brought a new perspective on widgets via sort-of-MVC, and a whole slew of libs emerged — JavascriptMVC, Knockout.js, SproutCore -> Ember, Angular, etc. All similar concepts rearranged in a different flavor, shifting abstraction into one layer or another, with different levels of convention. In the end, every wave brings something good. Right now we have React & Ractive bringing concept of virtual DOM. It seems long overdue and sorely needed. Staying at the edge must be exhausting. Staying in the middle of a bell curve is best bang for your buck.