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Most modern mobile or other "single page" web applications that are written in JavaScript (AngularJS / ReactJS / ProcessingJS etc.) either have a very simple static HTML and get enhanced via JS or are completely written in JS.

I e.g. program right now with Vaadin. A Java framework running completely on the server, pushing GUI update events via WebSockets to the client, and the client is rendering everything using JavaScript. There is basically no HTML involved at all.

You program your application like a Java/Swing programmer would do: https://vaadin.com/home and the cross compilers (based on googles GWT) compile it to Websocket/HTTP pushs and JavaScript.

I acknowledge that it's not for everyone, but I'm really enjoying Vaadin right now.

Exactly so.

There's a much better alternative - Vaadin. It allows pure server-side Java development of Ajax web applications much the same way as you would develop desktop applications with Swing, etc. Vaadin renders the server-side UI in the browser with widgets and a JavaScript rendering engine. However, you can also develop client-code in Java. The Java code is compiled to JavaScript with the GWT Compiler, which is also included in Vaadin. In Vaadin 7, the Java objects are serialized transparently between the server-side and client-side, so you can essentially work with the same objects on both sides.

So, there is no real reason for node.js, unless you're really good at JavaScript and want to work with it instead of Java, or you have some JS code that you need to run on both sides. If you have already made a client-side JS library, you can integrate it with Vaadin quite easily.

I'd really recommend taking a look at Vaadin. It's a server-side Java and Ajax web application development framework that lets you forget most of the web stuff. The Ajax and HTML rendering are all hidden and it's closer to desktop application development than traditional web development. The client-side is based on GWT, so if you want to make new components, you can do it with Java. In addition to the built-in components, there are some 250+ add-ons, so you can most likely find what you are looking for from those.

Check out https://vaadin.com/home, if you want your app to behave like a desktop app. It uses GWT for the front end, but it handles the session states and communication for you, so it feels familiar Java desktop apps. Take a look at what they have for components http://demo.vaadin.com/sampler If you are like me who hates web containers (JBoss, Tomcat). I have an example of embedded web server, where you just give it a port and run like a normal server Java program. http://code.google.com/a/eclipselabs.org/p/vaadin-push-example/

Check out https://vaadin.com/home, if you want your app to behave like a desktop app. It uses GWT for the front end, but it handles the session states and communication for you, so it feels familiar Java desktop apps. Take a look at what they have for components http://demo.vaadin.com/sampler If you are like me who hates web containers (JBoss, Tomcat). I have an example of embedded web server, where you just give it a port and run like a normal server Java program. http://code.google.com/a/eclipselabs.org/p/vaadin-push-example/

What I'd like to see is a way to write the client and the server components of a typical AJAXy application as a single work.

I agree. The closest thing I've found so far is the Vaadin Framework for Java. Yes, it's another Java framework. No, it's not quite there in terms of being the best imaginable solution for what you're proposing. But practically, it's the best that I've found. It has some rough edges, but overall, I've been impressed at how well they let you write the logic once, and their framework takes care of separating the front and back ends.

I just recently wrote some API documentation guidelines for our developers. You might want to check them out (click "downloading" link) if you are interested.

Feel free to comment, I'm sure some points in the guidelines may be questionable. There's also a handy reference card (click "downloading" link).

I just recently wrote some API documentation guidelines for our developers. You might want to check them out (click "downloading" link) if you are interested.

Feel free to comment, I'm sure some points in the guidelines may be questionable. There's also a handy reference card (click "downloading" link).

Anyone considering ExtJS should also evaluate Vaadin:
- It is free with Apache 2.0 license to all (while as ExtJS requires commercial license for most)
- It comes with a free book - no need to buy one
- It is build completely in Google Web Toolkit in client side (while as ExtJS GWT wrapper is just a wrapper)
- Programming is done in real Java language on the server-side. This makes integration to backend trivial. No more JavaScript debugging, protocol design, keeping client and server code in sync, worrying about browser compatibility issues, ...

Take a look of demo and start coding...

Anyone considering ExtJS should also evaluate Vaadin:
- It is free with Apache 2.0 license to all (while as ExtJS requires commercial license for most)
- It comes with a free book - no need to buy one
- It is build completely in Google Web Toolkit in client side (while as ExtJS GWT wrapper is just a wrapper)
- Programming is done in real Java language on the server-side. This makes integration to backend trivial. No more JavaScript debugging, protocol design, keeping client and server code in sync, worrying about browser compatibility issues, ...

Take a look of demo and start coding...

Anyone considering ExtJS should also evaluate Vaadin:
- It is free with Apache 2.0 license to all (while as ExtJS requires commercial license for most)
- It comes with a free book - no need to buy one
- It is build completely in Google Web Toolkit in client side (while as ExtJS GWT wrapper is just a wrapper)
- Programming is done in real Java language on the server-side. This makes integration to backend trivial. No more JavaScript debugging, protocol design, keeping client and server code in sync, worrying about browser compatibility issues, ...

Take a look of demo and start coding...

Anyone considering ExtJS should also evaluate Vaadin:
- It is free with Apache 2.0 license to all (while as ExtJS requires commercial license for most)
- It comes with a free book - no need to buy one
- It is build completely in Google Web Toolkit in client side (while as ExtJS GWT wrapper is just a wrapper)
- Programming is done in real Java language on the server-side. This makes integration to backend trivial. No more JavaScript debugging, protocol design, keeping client and server code in sync, worrying about browser compatibility issues, ...

Take a look of demo and start coding...

It is actually quite common to have IE6 support as a requirement for new intranet applications in enterprises. This is the reason why frameworks must still support IE6. (even though it is really really painful).

BTW: If browser-side programming is not your thing, take a look of Vaadin framework that combines GWT and server-side programming model.