ES6 import statements not working in Node v8.4.0

Question

I'm using the latest version of Node.js that is v8.4.0. However, in the import and export statements, I'm getting errors:

import express from 'express';
                                                              ^^^^^^

SyntaxError: Unexpected token import
    at createScript (vm.js:74:10)
    at Object.runInThisContext (vm.js:116:10)
    at Module._compile (module.js:537:28)
    at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:584:10)
    at Module.load (module.js:507:32)
    at tryModuleLoad (module.js:470:12)
    at Function.Module._load (module.js:462:3)
    at Function.Module.runMain (module.js:609:10)
    at startup (bootstrap_node.js:158:16)
    at bootstrap_node.js:598:3

What Node.js version should I install in order to work these ES6 codes?

OS - Ubuntu 17.04
node -v: v8.4.0
npm -v: 5.3.0

what is that opening brace? Import should be in the top-most level of your file — Salketer, Sep 12 '17 at 12:56
ES6 does not support `import` on Node.JS. Use `const express = require('express');` — Stan, Sep 12 '17 at 13:02
so which version does support import? if its es7, which node js version should I install to make it work? — Gijo Varghese, Sep 12 '17 at 13:04
@GijoVarghese No version supports it yet. You'll need to use babel. — Ben Fortune, Sep 12 '17 at 13:05
I was just wondering because of most of the tutorials now I see uses import instead of require. So how do they do it? — Gijo Varghese, Sep 12 '17 at 13:05
You can try [@std/esm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@std/esm). — CD.., Sep 12 '17 at 13:06
It's possible, see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/45854169/how-can-i-use-an-es6-import-in-node/50641589#50641589 — Manohar Reddy Poreddy, Jun 01 '18 at 10:43

score 26 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 06 '17 at 20:32

26

One way that I have worked around this issue...

Install babel stuff for the project:

$ npm install babel-register babel-preset-es2015 --save-dev

Create an index.js file that is the main entry point into the app:

// index.js 
// by requiring `babel/register`, all of our successive `require`s will be Babel'd
require('babel-register')({
   presets: [ 'es2015' ]
});

require('./server');

Then, create a file called server.js that will have your normal index code:

// server.js
import express from 'express';

var app = express()

app.get('/', (req, res) => res.send('Hello World!'))

app.listen(3000, () => console.log('Example app listening on port 3000!'))

And run:

$ node index.js

answered Nov 06 '17 at 20:32

Chris Livdahl

4,314
2
34
31

1

From https://babeljs.io/env/: "instead of continuing yearly presets, the team recommends using babel-preset-env". Therefore the 'es2015' preset in your code should probably be updated to 'env' (babel-preset-env) – Giovanni P. May 04 '18 at 21:09
import with directory name showing error. unexpected token for __ import pdf from __dirname + '/../../../index.js'; – Sayed Mohd Ali Nov 27 '18 at 07:40

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered May 16 '20 at 16:01

-1

const express = require('express'); is the right syntax as some es6 features ie import express from express is currently not available with node!

answered May 16 '20 at 16:01

mailtomeghu

11
1

ES6 import statements not working in Node v8.4.0

2 Answers2

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