Considering there are an increasing number of designed-to-be-likable languages that compile to JS, it's about as close to objectively better as you can get.
Obviously, performance isn't always a good reason to pick a language. I'm certainly not looking to write stuff in C, despite the performance benefits. Just pointing out that there are some solid reasons to prefer JS to PHP. ClojureScript alone is enough of a reason for me.
Are you claiming to have an objective yardstick for comparing the goodness of languages? (Don't answer that.)
If not, please remember that different languages are just that -- different, not necessarily better or worse. Personal attitudes towards the differences between languages are totally normal. Bearing this in mind will help the conversation proceed in a more civil manner.
I don't agree with that. Sure, comparing something from completely different domains (for example, SQL and HTML) doesn't make sense. However, for some languages (e.g. C#/Java, Python/Ruby, etc.) it is entirely possible to compare them and point out which is better in some aspects or worse in others.
What I'm saying is that Javascript and PHP are comparable (now that node.js exists and it's possible to write server-side javascript), however, I don't see much advantage over PHP other than being more trendy.
Well, probably the biggest difference is npm... A great package manager makes things easier to create and use as independent modules. PHP has frameworks, but these are a bit cumbersome.
JavaScript even with the bad parts is still more consistent and friendly to use than the core methods within PHP, inconsistent naming structures, parameter ordering and a lot of other issues at the language level.
I've NEVER liked PHP as a language... and that stems from VERY early on in web development. I've used a number of platforms and languages over the years, and none have irked me nearly as much as PHP has.
Interesting how the same people who are "not fans" of PHP somehow like Javascript. As if it's better.