CMake is mostly dedicated to C/C++ projects, but also has built-in support for assembly, Fortran, and Java. CMake has templates for adding a new language as well. The benefits are: cross-platform "shell" commands (you can copy files without using an explicit cp), standard lookup for programs, and easy target generation from a collection of files. Most languages are pretty similar to C/C++ when it comes to the build cycle. Portability (i.e. testing for existence of headers) is less of a concern for something like Javascript, but everything else still applies.