Just ask people what the round end of a ball peen is for. Few people know what peening is, fewer know how to do it, yet a ball peen hammer is still one of the most common hammers around. It's competing against other specialized hammers and winning because people simply have it already.

This is also replying to nordsieck, who made the same point.

You are both correct, but I was using "competition" in a different sense. I was thinking in terms of how people often talk about these issues: as if there was a One Language To Rule Them All. That is the notion that I object to.

When considering the best tool for a particular job, the different contenders are competing in a sense for that job. But I see that as not being the same as when people are asserting that a given language is always the superior choice independent of the task at hand.

The responses to my initial comment really surprise me. I had no idea I was saying anything controversial, but apparently I am!