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As JavaScript applications grow in size and complexity, organizing code into reusable modules becomes increasingly important. Fortunately, native JavaScript modules were introduced as part of ES6 to help address this need.
Modules allow encapsulating code into self-contained units that can be imported and utilized in a modular fashion. This article provides an introduction to leveraging ES6 modules to write cleaner and more maintainable JavaScript code.
Why Modules Matter
Breaking up code into modules offers many design advantages:
- Namespace isolation — Avoid collisions with other scripts on the page
- Reusability — Modules can be reused across applications
- Maintainability — Modules are easier to maintain and update
- Testability — Modules can be tested in isolation
Prior solutions for JavaScript modularity like CommonJS (Node.js modules) and AMD relied on third-party libraries. With ES6, module capabilities are built right into the JavaScript language itself.
