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04.

Modules: require() & import()

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Let's get back to talking about the real power of Webpack: the ability to import or require JavaScript files. Pretend that building this string is actually a lot of work. Or maybe it's something we need to re-use from somewhere else in our code:

15 lines | assets/js/app.js
// ... lines 1 - 13
console.log('Hello Webpack Encore! Edit me in assets/js/app.js!!!');

So, we want to isolate it into its own file. If this were PHP, we would create a new file to hold this logic. In JavaScript, we're going to do the same thing.

In assets/js/, create a new file called get_nice_message.js. Unlike PHP, in JavaScript, each file that you want to use somewhere else needs to export something, like a function, object, or even a string. Do that by saying module.exports = and then the thing you want to export. Let's create a function() with one argument exclamationCount:

4 lines | assets/js/get_nice_message.js
module.exports = function(exclamationCount) {
// ... line 2
};

Inside, let's go steal our string... then return that string and, to increase our fanciness, add '!'.repeat(exclamationCount):

4 lines | assets/js/get_nice_message.js
module.exports = function(exclamationCount) {
return 'Hello Webpack Encore! Edit me in assets/js/app.js'+'!'.repeat(exclamationCount);
};

Yes. Because strings are objects in JavaScript, this works - it's kinda cool. By the way, when a JavaScript file exports a value like this, it's known as a "module". That's not a big deal, but you'll hear this term a lot: JavaScript modules. OooOOOoo. It just refers to what we're doing here.

Now go back to app.js. At the top, well... it doesn't need to be on top, but usually we organize the imports there, add const getNiceMessage = require('./get_nice_message');:

17 lines | assets/js/app.js
/*
* Welcome to your app's main JavaScript file!
*
* We recommend including the built version of this JavaScript file
* (and its CSS file) in your base layout (base.html.twig).
*/
// any CSS you require will output into a single css file (app.css in this case)
require('../css/app.css');
// Need jQuery? Install it with "yarn add jquery", then uncomment to require it.
// const $ = require('jquery');
const getNiceMessage = require('./get_nice_message');
// ... lines 15 - 17

Notice the .js extension is optional, you can add it or skip it - Webpack knows what you mean. And because, key strokes are expensive... and programmers are lazy, you usually don't see it.

Also, that ./ at the beginning is important. When you're pointing to a file relative to the current one, you need to start with ./ or ../. If you don't, Webpack will think you're trying to import a third-party package. We'll see that soon.

And now that we have our getNiceMessage() function, let's call it! Pass it 5 for just the right number of excited exclamation points:

17 lines | assets/js/app.js
// ... lines 1 - 13
const getNiceMessage = require('./get_nice_message');
console.log(getNiceMessage(5));

And because we're running the watch command in the background, when we refresh, it just works!

import Versus require

But! When we originally looked at the Webpack docs, they weren't using require() and module.exports! Nope, they were using import and export. It turns out, there are two valid ways to export and import values from other files... and they're basically identical.

To use the other way, remove module.exports and say export default:

4 lines | assets/js/get_nice_message.js
export default function(exclamationCount) {
// ... line 2
};

That does the same thing. The default is important. With this syntax, a module, so, a file, can export more than one thing. We're not going to talk about that here, but most of the time, you'll want to export just one thing, and this default keyword is how you do that.

Next, back in app.js, the require changes to import getNiceMessage from './get_nice_message':

17 lines | assets/js/app.js
// ... lines 1 - 13
import getNiceMessage from './get_nice_message';
// ... lines 15 - 17

That's it! That is 100% the same as what we had before. So, which should you use? Use this syntax. The require() function comes from Node. But the import and export syntax are the official way to do module loading in ECMAScript, which is the actual name for the JavaScript language specification.

You can - and should - also use this for CSS. Just import, then the path:

17 lines | assets/js/app.js
// ... lines 1 - 7
// any CSS you require will output into a single css file (app.css in this case)
import '../css/app.css';
// ... lines 10 - 17

There's no from in this case because we don't need it to return a value to us.

Make sure all this coolness works: refresh! Yes!

Woh! Hey! Shut the front door! Did we just organize our JavaScript without global variables? Yes! We totally did! And that is no small thing. Heck, we could stop the tutorial right now, and you would still have this amazing superpower.

But... we won't! There is still so much cool stuff to talk about. Like, how we can now super easily install third-party libraries via Yarn and import them in our code. Let's do it!