Note: This blog post, like most of mine, is a work in progress. If you see somethinig that does seem quite right, let me know @dicshaunary.

If you read nothing else, read this: http://2ality.com/2014/09/es6-modules-final.html and then perhaps this: https://addyosmani.com/writing-modular-js/ too. The following are my own notes.

ECMAScript 2015 (ECMA6) Module System

Two primary types of ECMA6 exports:

  • named exports
  • default exports - a named export that happens to be named default.

MDN on Export

// listed named export
export { name1, name2, …, nameN };

// listed named export with renames
export { variable1 as name1, variable2 as name2, …, nameN };

// named export of declaration
export let name1, name2, …, nameN; // also var
export let name1 = …, name2 = …, …, nameN; // also var, const

// default export of an expression
export default expression;
export default function (…) { … } // also class, function*
export default function name1(…) { … } // also class, function*

// default export 
export { name1 as default, … };

// re-export
export * from …;

// selective re-export
export { name1, name2, …, nameN } from …;

// selective re-export with rename
export { import1 as name1, import2 as name2, …, nameN } from …;

MDN on Import

// default import
import defaultMember from "module-name";

// importing the module as an object
import * as name from "module-name";

// named import
import { member } from "module-name";

// named import with a rename
import { member as alias } from "module-name";

// multiple named import
import { member1 , member2 } from "module-name";

// multiple named import with one a rename
import { member1 , member2 as alias2 , [...] } from "module-name";

// default and named import
import defaultMember, { member [ , [...] ] } from "module-name"; 

// importing the default and the module as an object
import defaultMember, * as name from "module-name";

// load the module without importing anything
import "module-name";

Legacy JavaScript Module Systems

AMD (RequireJS) Module System

CommonJS (NodeJS) Module System

module.exports = 
exports = 
module.require(id)
require(id)

Some Practical Notes

TypeScript compiles export default { } to exports.default = { }. In legacy code, we can load that via require('id').default and in modern code with import someName from 'id'.