Python did this until very recently too. Windows has a problem, because people expect to use those programs in the command line and the %PATH% has a size limit and is a bit difficult to set-up properly.
If you do deeply nested paths (as npm used to do) then you can run against the old MAX_PATH limit that limits paths to 260 characters, but the correct solution is to either choose a flatter directory structure or use the newer APIs that allow paths with 32,767 characters.
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local
Or even better to work with localization
%LOCALAPPDATA%
Steam should have worked to figure out a better approach to UAC years ago. At this point it is one of several big tech debt issues with Steam that has my confidence in Valve at an all time low as a consumer.
I also have C:\CMD for my own batch files.
Every single program should be fully contained in its own directory including all the settings,logging,configuration etc...
No touching of any common resource or repository.
It should be enough to delete single tree to fully uninstall program with all the garbage it created along the way
\Programs\VendorX\ProgramY\code
But it seems because of the idea that some people may want to back up data and config separately, we end up with stuff scattered everywhere, with some even hidden away in the Windows Registry. Makes backups ridiculously complex.