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The difference is that CoffeeScript has a massive amount of mindshare, integrations, and tooling. GorillaScript may be better than CoffeeScript but that doesn't mean that it's even remotely close in terms of day-to-day usability. Because CoffeeScript got there first (and was decent) it's got a huge head start on ANY other competitor.

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Yes, but that's like saying Perl got there first before Python or Ruby. GorillaScript, CoffeeScript, TypeScript, etc. all basically use Javascript as a platform, and there should be room for all of them in the long run. (Or, at least room to let the market sort out which ones they like the best).

BTW, this got me thinking: are the Javascript envine vendors (V8, etc.) doing anything to make it easier to write languages like GorillaScript or CoffeeScript? Or is it all up to the language designers?

They have made serious effort with developer tooling, especially with Source Maps.

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