2021-03-03
3675
#node
Alexander Nnakwue
14680
Mar 3, 2021 â‹… 13 min read

Using ES modules in Node.js

Alexander Nnakwue Software engineer. React, Node.js, Python, and other developer tools and libraries.

Recent posts:

When is low-code the right choice? Here’s how to decide

Not sure if low-code is right for your next project? This guide breaks down when to use it, when to avoid it, and how to make the right call.

Popoola Temitope
Jul 11, 2025 â‹… 7 min read
Comparing AI App Builders — Firebase Studio vs. Lovable vs. Replit. LogRocket Article

Comparing AI app builders — Firebase Studio vs. Lovable vs. Replit

Compare Firebase Studio, Lovable, and Replit for AI-powered app building. Find the best tool for your project needs.

Emmanuel John
Jul 11, 2025 â‹… 7 min read
Gemini CLI tutorial — Will it replace Windsurf and Cursor?

Gemini CLI tutorial — Will it replace Windsurf and Cursor?

Discover how to use Gemini CLI, Google’s new open-source AI agent that brings Gemini directly to your terminal.

Chizaram Ken
Jul 10, 2025 â‹… 8 min read
React & TypeScript: 10 Patterns For Writing Better Code

React & TypeScript: 10 patterns for writing better code

This article explores several proven patterns for writing safer, cleaner, and more readable code in React and TypeScript.

Peter Aideloje
Jul 10, 2025 â‹… 11 min read
View all posts

4 Replies to "Using ES modules in Node.js"

  1. What about the performance decrease because of the esm modules resolution? I experienced a noticeable difference in the startup between the 13.1 and 13.7 versions (around 20%). I find this huge since I’m not using this feature anywhere yet.

  2. Hello Gergo, I haven’t seen any real life overhead in terms of performance in the new ESM resolution algorithm. Can you point me to how you got the stat you have mentioned above, and since this is not a known issue in the wide, also peeking at the issues tab in the source code (https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+esm) does not point any issues relating to performance… You can learn more about the ESM algorithm here on the docs, https://nodejs.org/api/esm.html#esm_resolution_algorithm

  3. Hi Alexander,
    Thanks for checking. I couldn’t create a trustworthy benchmark, that’s why I asked. Using 13.8 I don’t see any big differences now.

  4. So how can you _usefully_ import an ES module into a CommonJS module? You make mention of dynamic import but that’s asynchronous and can only be called inside a function which means you can’t import anything into the top level with it since no top level ‘await’.

    Without an elegant solution to that basic interoperability it seems quite painful. I’m not an experienced JS developer and just getting Jasmine to run some tests against an ES module seems like an almighty undocumented ballache. I’ve spent more time trying to make sense of this than actually doing any work!

Leave a Reply