Elm – “Designing to infantilize a target audience is how we got Java”

Yes, that's an incredibly bold statement. Javascript today is probably the most popular language in the world (according to Github; other indices tell a different story), and that gives it the very same role that at once was fulfilled by Java or even PHP: it's probably the first language a newcomer will learn programming with, hence you'll find a lot of unskilled engineers as well as some experts.

So, saying that Javascript devs, just because they're interested in Elm, are "the cream of the crop"... sounds ludicrous.

To be fair, many items in history got popular being ... err, for the infantile; some primarily because of it. But I don't think popularity is one of Elm's goals.

I use what I use because it works for me, and not because it's the fashionable trend; similarly, I think while Java has its place, I'll use Elm when it works for me. And not being dumbed down certainly serves some functions.

Hitler is certainly not only a footnote.

To be fair to the context here, neither is:

1. JavaScript reliable like C, nor

2. Elm an addition of "whiz-bang new footguns" to JavaScript.