Has anyone tried to optimize their java or css like shown on the sites main page news article ? I am very tempted to do so.
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I haven't read the article but if you are referring to compressing them, yes I have and it makes a difference.
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I will give it a go then. The site is the first of my attempts to keep the site close to W3c compliant and running half way decent. Its funny how priorities change as we use nuke. When i first started using nuke i loaded it with every mod i could find and use the most intense graphics themes. Now speed, ranks, and good content mean the most. Thanks for your help with it all my friends.

Not all of our JS and CSS are optimized, but it's definitely something we continue to review. Ultimately, it would be great to be able to dynamically built optimized files and only load 1 JS and 1 CSS file per page - but that might not ever be possible if we use external JS like quantcast, Google Analytics, addthis, etc.
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Any step forward is important. The PHP-Nuke code had been left untouched and un updated for so long and the fact that sites like yours and ravens are truely trying to improve upon it is the only reason i believe that anyone still uses nuke. I have noticed a mass movement away from nuke the last couple of years but i see the tide returning back thanks to everyones efforts. It is appreciated my friend and i hope you know that it is.

Would you make a brief tutorial or doc to share how you have found ways to speed up your code ? I fo rone would be very eager to see and try to implement it myself.

Optimizing JS and CSS on the fly would likely slow down your code, even if the end result to most users is faster. Preoptimizing the individual files wouldn't have a significant impact on the server (bandwidth would be less), but usually makes the client (i.e. the visitor's browser) faster (less to download). Why not always?

First, it helps to understand the multiple ways CSS and JS can be compressed:
- Removing whitespace (blanks, newlines) can save space without altering the code or impacting the client. This is generally referred to as "minifying."
- Replacing JS variable names with shorter variable names can also reduce file size but increases the chance of variables conflicting with other JS
- Using GZ compression can make files even smaller, but takes server time to do on the fly and client time to uncompress. Not only has this has been shown to be slower on the client in some cases, but isn't supported in all browser.

Some JS developers provide multiple versions of their JS. Regular, minified and compressed. Your mileage may vary, but I'll stick with minified versions.

Does this with the news article provide enough info - if not, what else might a tutorial provide?

Wow, to the point and well put. I think i really do need to bone up on css alot more and java as well then decide what routes to go. I am not sure what i expected but you did make me realize that when you game in one aspect you will always lose in another. If it is easier on the server it is harder on the user. Faster on the user is harder on the server. A happy medium is just fine.