Ask HN: Are there and will there be a lot of JavaScript backend developer jobs?

JS as a backend is more of a joke, though. It has heartful followers, true. But it doesn't bring anything valuable to the table. I may be wrong (and happy to be corrected) but this was developed by people who learned the JS frontend stuff first and then didn't want to learn another language for the backend just as well. So they decided to make the language they already know available in the backend as well. But that's it.

Think about competitions in the backend/desktop area. For instance Go. It aims to combine the advantages you have in the most popular programming languages, while also providing stuff as core elements (e.g. packaging) that are only attached on top of other languages. Or coming from the other direction of the "cool" languages, it provides all the nice little modern features you know from other languages but also enables you to write and compile code as fast as the C codes of the ancients you always read about.

This is what real competition looks like. It provides something huge and new while also providing quality features you know from your current favorite language. If you don't bring something like that to the table people won't switch to you, at least not for serious projects. The advantage of already having educated developers on the market for the "old stuff" and having an infrastructure of libraries that solve most of the tasks at hand, is just too big to compete against without killer features.

And as I said, I may just not know the killer feature of server side JS, in which case it may be just a marketing blunder of the server JS people that can be corrected.

Cobol has been dead for a long time. It's not popular even on HN.

I don't see a bright future for ruby, I think it had some lead advantage, but RoR/opinionated-design really cut down the options for innovation with a Ruby based web dev group. It is interesting to see how diametrically opposed philosophy of Ruby the language is from the RoR community, it is like Ruby created a liberal blank space and RoR immediately filled it with conservative inflexibility.

Php is in an interesting position, but I think ecommerce systems catching up and offering more integrations will erode its position. It is very expensive to hire and retain loyalty on a php project, especially when it is of any complexity since anyone who will tolerate it and understands CS has plenty of other options.

If I had to say what will trouble JS, it is C++ as the VM. Too many groups will lack members that are able to look bellow the scripting layer when the inevitable low level problems occur.

Personally, I see the future as a war (and up/down stack integration) between JS/v8 and LLVM based languages. While other options will keep their markets for years, they have no solid positions for growth. Python will hold on as long as it has the academic position, but it needs a better relation with LLVM or clever curriculum builders will choose another language to teach using only one easy enough language up through compilers, with llvm-ir replacing assembly in a way that makes sense given the Arm/Intel war could go either way now.

https://reactjs.net/guides/server-side-rendering.html