CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascript
MasterJoe
MasterJoe

Reputation: 2355

Javascript modules - Cannot use import statement outside a module

I am new to Javascript and I am trying to learn modules from a tutorial. In have a folder in visual studio code/VScode which has two files, script.js & external.js.

Script.js imports content from external.js and prints text to console. I get the below error when I run script.js from vs code, with node.js run configuration. Can someone please tell me why this happens and how to fix it ? In comparison, imports in Java are simple.

import {keyValue} from './external.js';
^^^^^^

SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module
    at wrapSafe (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:1070:16)
    at Module._compile (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:1120:27)

external.js :

export let keyValue = 1000;

script.js :

import {keyValue} from './external.js';
console.log(keyValue);

UPDATES : Node version - v12.16.2, upgraded to v14.4.0.

Upvotes: 5

Views: 7248

Answers (2)

SPG
SPG

Reputation: 6197

What's the version of node.js?

If node.js is version 13 or above, you can do either:

  • add { type: "module" } to package.json.
{
  ...
  scripts: "...",
  type: "module"
}
  • rename .js to .mjs

If it's under 13, rename .js to .mjs, and run with additional params --experimental-modules.

node --experimental-modules script.js

Or

You can also fix the import statement outside a module issue

by not using the import statement and using the dynamic import function instead.

script.js

import("./external.js").then((module) => {
    console.log(module.keyValue);
});

This form also supports the await keyword.

 let module = await import('./external.js');
 console.log(module.keyValue)

Upvotes: 5

Minor Vargas
Minor Vargas

Reputation: 113

it's because you are using es6 modules instead of the default module system for node which is common js. you could either use babel to transpile it or to use the .mjs extension

Upvotes: -1

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