JavaScript is coming more and more to the fore as a server-side language with a new generation of servers based on the CommonJS (ServerJS) standard. Kris Zyp one of the active members working on CommonJS gives us a summary of the state of play (from January 2010). This includes future directions such as concurrency, promises. And also includes a brief overview of many server-side JavaScript frameworks including Node.js
A BetterExplained article that discusses how to reduce the initial load time of JavaScript files. Covers measuring load times, and a number of approaches to delaying the loading of a JavaScript file. Also covers minifying JavaScript and maintaining a debug version of code. Also covers an AJAX onLoad pattern to dynamically include JavaScript after page load, and HTTP caching of external JavaScript files