alt Hacker News> why JS is the language that has ended up dominating web development
JS was dominating web development long before WASM gained steam. This isn't the same situation as "JS beating Java/ActivX for control of the web" (if I follow the thrust of your argument correctly).
WASM has had less than a decade of widespread browser support, terrible no-good DevEx for basically the whole time, and it's still steadily making it's way into more and more of the web.
WebAssembly has had extraordinary levels of investment from browser devs and the broader community.
> terrible no-good DevEx for basically the whole time
I'm telling you why.
> still steadily making it's way into more and more of the web.
It is, but you can still browser the web without it just fine, despite so much investment and (judging by how HN reacts to it) overwhelming enthusiasm from devs