title: Why isn't Node.js compiled before runtime?
body: <p>My understanding of the technology is that it is compiled on the fly into assembly.  On the speed spectrum it is slower than Java but faster than Ruby and Python.  On the client side an interpreter makes sense but on the server side my first thought is that compilation prior to running, or at least having the option to do so, is an optimal architecture.  If the JavaScript was pre compiled in this way would it run faster than Java? Or is it something to do with weakly typed languages which means that JavaScript will always be slower than Java?</p>