How to make node require es5 lib from node_modules - node.js

I am trying to convert Express.js project to binary, and I am using zeit/pkg libary. However, it gave me an error every time I try to use pkg.
Is there a way that I can force Node/Npm to use es5 instead of es6.

in your snapshot the module is being imported from ..er/node_modules/safefs/es6/lib/safefs.js
notice it is importing from es6 which has export keyword. that means its an es6 module and your node supports 'commonjs' require.
which is why this require may be failing.
you can download latest version of node where you can resolve es6 modules.

Related

CommonJS require() or ES6 import/export in nodejs production?

I have got the latest version of npm modules and developing a nodejs application. The problem is that some npm modules support the require() and the others support the import/export statements, I cannot use them both in a file.
Having the production criteria in mind, which should I opt for either only require() or only import/export or a mix of those using the dynamic import() along with the require(). Thanks
I assume we are talking about plain JavaScript without transpiling from TypeScript or Babel.
The require() function is used to load CommonJS modules whereas the import statement is used to load ESM modules. Which of them you should or can use depends on factors such as:
does your target Node.js version support ESM? I think ESM in Nodejs support got introduced in v12, but I'm not sure how stable it is.
is your package defined as ESM or CommonJS module. That depends on the type field in your package.json, with "type": "module" for ESM and "type": "commonjs" for CommonJS: https://nodejs.org/api/packages.html#type
are your package dependencies provided as ESM or CommonJS modules. That depends on each individual package.json and their type field as well as if the package is provided as both ESM and CommonJS modules with conditional exports: https://nodejs.org/api/packages.html#conditional-exports
Unfortunately, I cannot provide a definite answer for you because that depends on your environment. ESM and import statements are going to be the future of JS, but the ESM support in the Node.js ecosystem is not on par with CommonJS yet.
With this in mind, I would opt for CommonJS modules but I would use a transpiler like TypeScript so I can still use modern features of JS.

Node.js: How to use npm ES6 modules (import) in commonjs (require) app.js

I'm kind of a newbie with node.js, so please, be merciful :)
I use node ver 14.15.1
The problem I'm facing is to get a npm module("ghost-cursor", https://www.npmjs.com/package/ghost-cursor) that is written in ES6 ("import") working in commonjs (require).
I need to pack my node.js app in an exe file and the npm "pkg" doesn't seem to work with ES6. With nexe I can't get to pack all dependencies in order to work outside of the project folder and on other machines... I have tried to transpile the ES6 module to commonjs with babel:
babel --presets=es2015 ./folder/filename.js > ./folder/filenameCJ.js
but I get the error: SyntaxError: Invalid or unexpected token
I have also tried the solutions posted in:
How to use ES6 modules in CommonJS?
but I can't get it to work.
Are there any other ways, except "nexe" and "pkg" to make an exe file from node.js?
Is it possible to use an ES6 module from npm in commonjs with require? If so, how?
Thanky you for your help and replies.

WebStorm: import/export statement in JavaScript

I'm using WebStorm and a newbie to it. when I use import/export statements, it gives me an error of
Unexpected token import
but if I try with require/module.exports it works fine.
N.B- I've configured language version as ES6 from Languages and Frameworks.
This is not WebStorm but Node.js that fails. While import is a part of ES6, native support for ES6 modules in Node.js is very limited and requires special setup - see https://nodejs.org/api/esm.html#esm_enabling. So, you have to compile your code with Babel first. Usually transpiling is a part of build process (using Gulp, Grunt, WebPack, etc.). Or, you can transpile your code on-the-fly by passing -r babel-register to Node.js. Of course, you need creating appropriate .babelrc and install the required modules (npm install --save-dev babel-cli babel-preset-env)

create-react-app importing modules as ES6 Modules when project is using CommonJS Modules

I am trying to use CommonJS module format, with create-react-app (CRA). The documentation for CRA says:
..Create React App can consume both CommonJS and ES modules. For Node.js
compatibility, it is recommended that the main entry point is CommonJS...
I am finding that when I import a module that offers ES6 module format (via is "module" property in "package.json"), then CRA uses this as the entry point for the module.
Thus - even when my project is using CJS entirely, it then tries to import ES6 modules - and fails.
So - Is this a bug? Or, am I misunderstanding the intended behaviour of create-react-app?
Reproducing
I have reproduced this here: https://github.com/mjashanks/cra-test. This project is a basic CRA skeleton, modified to used CJS.
Additionally, I have added a "test-module", whose a package.json includes a "main" (CJS) and "module" (ES6) entry point.
If we run npm start, the project fails to build, as the file "test-module/index.esm.js" is being used. (We can edit this file to use CJS format to make the project build and make this more clear).
"test-module/index.cjs.js" is never used.
Thanks :)
I found that this actually turned out to be an issue (actually expected behaviour) with Webpack: https://github.com/webpack/webpack/issues/5756

Compiling Typescript to NodeJs: es6 types issues

I think i'm missing something with the typescript 2 type system when used with nodejs.
Here is the situation:
Compiling a small nodejs express server written in typescript to plain es5 in order to be run under node 6.10.0 (target: es5 in tsconfig.json).
In my package.json, i installed #types/node (7.0.3) to get node's type informations.
When installing my project using npm (v3.10.10) and then compiling it with typescript (v2.1.5) i get a bunch or errors related to 'Iterable' and 'Iterator' symbol, (which are es6 symbols).
So from what i understand, #types/node use es6 types out of the box, assuming they are already availables.
In order to have the es6 types (Iterator, Iterable and so on) it seams that there is two solutions:
Add the core-js package.
Target es6 instead of es5 in tsconfig.json which will force typescript to use it's lib/lib.es2015..d.ts* definitions files.
In my opinion, the second approach is better.
Is this the official way to go when compiling ts to node ?
ie: targeting es6 in tsconfig ?
How can i be sure that the underlying node engine will effectively support those es6 features ? What if i'm using an old nodejs version without es6 support ?
I'd be glad to discuss to clearly understand the underlying mechanisms !
Thank you
Since node doesn't support completely all es6 features yet see : node green,
it's better to target es5 and install core-js types :
npm install #types/core-js

Resources