In essence scrappy, Glock raised the bar. Which in the evolution of firearms is a good thing. No other pistol has been tortured, punished, tested, abused, kicked and run over, thrown out of airplanes, thrown in the ocean, buckets of sand, mud, dirt, and still worked long after others failed.
I'm not a Glock fan, but I own one, the grip on my G21 is too wide and fat for me, I often refer to it as a railroad tie with a grip, but it matters not, because it goes bang, with whatever ammo; every time.
It's too damn big to carry concealed here in the swamps of S. Florida, but it is what it is, and will be a goto pistol when/if needed.
For that standard, the other manufacturers had to play catch up. I also trust/love my M+P 40. FN9, it made the others wake up. Which is a good thing, it made the others say "Oh, sh**"...The XD platform, is reliable, and some folk swear by them. I don;t like the grip angle, and texture, and it's even uglier than a Glock,

It's still a great pistol.
+1 on billt's post. Glock has withstood all the abuse and critiques. Fortunately, other gunmakers expanded on on it, and there are more great reliable pistols out there.
P.S. I Love my M+P.
