Import vs Require #

This page is for those who don't know what import does or have assumed it's a TypeScript thing. It's not specific to JellyCommands or discord.js but will help your JavaScript learning!

What is import and export syntax #

A lot of new developers in the Discord bot space might be only used to seeing require, this is the old nodejs module syntax (CJS), this comes along with module.exports. The new JavaScript module syntax (ESM) uses import and export. Not only is this new syntax much cleaner but it's much more powerful so is a great thing to transition to using.

Support #

ESM is supported in Node 12 and above, discord.js & JellyCommands require Node 16+ so it's no issue! You might need to switch to esm syntax in your project by changing your package.json to have this field:

{
    "type": "module"
}

Importing Modules #

Lets use discord.js as an example of how import and require differ:

CJS:

const { Client } = require('discord.js');

ESM:

import { Client } from 'discord.js'

A default import:

CJS

const Discord = require('discord.js');

ESM:

import Discord from 'discord.js';

Exporting #

With CJS exporting is done with module.exports, with ESM it's export

Named exports #

CJS

module.exports.something = 'Hello World'

ESM

export const something = 'Hello World'

Default exports #

CJS

module.exports = 'Hello World'

ESM

export default 'Hello World'

Using named and default exports #

With CJS it's not possible to use a named and default export, but with CJS you can! For example:

export default 'Hello World'

export const something = true

You can import both of these from the same file:

import helloWorld from './test.js'
import { something } from './test.js'

You can even import them in one line:

import helloWorld, { something } from './test.js'

Support #

If you struggle with transitioning to the new module system please join the discord and we can help you. You can always switch back to CJS as both systems are supported by JellyCommands and discord.js.