NodeJS: "Unexpected identifier" when trying to import module

Question

I am trying to use ES6 imports in Node v10.15.3 LTS, but I keep running into the same syntax error. It occurs no matter whether I use esm, babel, or the --experimental-modules flag to enable support for ES6 imports. Here is the error message:

/home/derrick/demo/index.js:1 (function (exports, require, module, __filename, __dirname) { import otherFunction from './otherFunction'; ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ SyntaxError: Unexpected identifier at new Script (vm.js:80:7) at createScript (vm.js:274:10) at Object.runInThisContext (vm.js:326:10) at Module._compile (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:664:28) at Object.Module._extensions..js (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:712:10) at Module.load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:600:32) at tryModuleLoad (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:539:12) at Function.Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:531:3) at Function.Module.runMain (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:754:12) at startup (internal/bootstrap/node.js:283:19)

Here is my code (using esm):

package.json

{ "name": "demo", "version": "1.0.0", "description": "", "main": "index.js", "scripts": { "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1" }, "keywords": [], "author": "", "license": "ISC", "dependencies": { "esm": "^3.2.22" } }

index.js

import otherFunction from './otherFunction';

otherFunction.js

const otherFunction => { console.log('Inside other function'); } export default otherFunction;

I have gone through a couple dozen tutorials trying to figure this out, but I keep getting the same error message.

I've read up on the syntax for imports/exports. I also tried importing { otherFunction } instead of otherFunction, changing the file extensions to .mjs, named vs. default exports, and anything else I can find when I Google this error message.

I am grateful for any suggestions. I've spent 8 hours on this and am about to scream :-)

You’ve tried everything listed here? stackoverflow.com/q/45854169 — JBallin
– JBallin, Commented Apr 20, 2019 at 4:53

Derrick Miller · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-22 00:56:51Z

I finally got it working with Babel 7, using the instructions at https://hackernoon.com/using-babel-7-with-node-7e401bc28b04 . Here are the basic steps:

npm init -y
npm install --save-dev @babel/core @babel/cli @babel/preset-env @babel/node
npm install --save-dev nodemon
Edit .babelrc and change it to { "presets": ["@babel/preset-env"] }
nodemon --exec babel-node index.js

Namhoon Lee · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-20 05:29:16Z

1

Because node.js still use common.js module system, you must transpile to use es6 syntax.

To easily run the es6 javascript file, you can install the babel-cli and run it using the babel-node command, as shown below.

npm install -g babel-cli babel-node index.js

answered Apr 20, 2019 at 5:29

Namhoon Lee

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2 Comments

Derrick Miller Over a year ago

Tried this and I still get the same error. It appears to be a bug in Babel 7: github.com/babel/babel/issues/8835

Derrick Miller Over a year ago

Actually I take that back. "npm install -g babel-cli" installed version 6.26.0, so that is the version producing the error.

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