I think you’d be hard pressed to name another case where there that kind of breaking change was very successful. I’d highlight the python 2->3 change as not something to replicate. Same with what has happened to Perl.
For example:
- I think they bungled the Unicode transition by being too dogmatic and it took them a few point releases to include some quality of life improvements for migration that really allowed legacy libraries to transition
- the GIL dependency didn't go away
- typing was added later
Python 3 would have been a huge jump with those changes. Instead, Python 3.0 was very interesting but a major annoyance for limited benefits to 99% of Python app devs.
There's some serious work going on with the GIL these days. And also about immutability and reducing reference counting.
> [...] it took them a few point releases to include some quality of life improvements for migration that really allowed legacy libraries to transition
I wouldn't hold that against the transition too much. No one gets everything right from the start.
About typing: owing to Python's culture, I don't think mainstream Python will be statically typed by default (or even obligatorily) anytime soon.
As an opinionated js, definitely. Probably also incremental, in a way.
Browser frontends (in general) set not such demands (size, memory, speed guarantees) and its bloat more often comes from things outside of code (images, videos, trackers), so there's freedom to use whatever floats ones boat.
Combined with the ever increasing demands on app complexity, frameworks and born left and right. The strong movement into functional programming in this area has also led the way for other languages (SMLs, Lisps) that better fit that model.