Node.js Import Style Guide

When working with built-in Node.js modules, how you import them matters more than you might think. The syntax you choose can affect clarity, performance, compatibility—and even how easily your codebase scales. This guide walks through the different import styles and offers a practical rule-of-thumb approach to picking the best one. For the record, these are not hard rules—but they are sensible defaults that align with modern Node.js practices (especially from v16 onward). TL;DR Use import { method } from 'node:module' Why? It's explicit, tree-shakable, IDE-friendly, and future-ready. import in Node.js: The Big Picture Node.js has come a long way from require(). With ES modules (ESM) support stabilized in modern versions, it's time to level up how we import built-in modules. But here's the catch, you've got options. Let's break them down.

Apr 10, 2025 - 16:30

When working with built-in Node.js modules, how you import them matters more than you might think. The syntax you choose can affect clarity, performance, compatibility—and even how easily your codebase scales.

This guide walks through the different import styles and offers a practical rule-of-thumb approach to picking the best one.

For the record, these are not hard rules—but they are sensible defaults that align with modern Node.js practices (especially from v16 onward).

TL;DR Use import { method } from 'node:module' Why? It's explicit, tree-shakable, IDE-friendly, and future-ready.

`import` in Node.js: The Big Picture

Node.js has come a long way from require(). With ES modules (ESM) support stabilized in modern versions, it's time to level up how we import built-in modules.

But here's the catch, you've got options. Let's break them down.