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There's a couple problems in http://lea.verou.me/2020/05/todays-javascript-from-an-outsiders-perspective/ that I know how to solve (or know useful info about), so in case it helps anyone in the very-close-to-now ESModules future:
First, the "ES Module" issue. Given the details here, it's likely that John was using es6 module syntax in their index.js file, likely copied from the package's example repo. Something like this small fs example will reproduce it.
The error when using node 14 (and presumably 13) looks like this. John must have downloaded the "current" version instead of the "recommended for most users" version. (here's the page they might have gotten it from, I can't blame them for doing it, I do too).
We have three viable options from here: switch to commonjs require(), rename the file to index.mjs, or use the type:module package.json approach, which changes the way .js files are treated from cjs to esm in the current package scope
https://nodejs.org/api/esm.html#esm_ecmascript_modules is the relevant docs
https://nodejs.org/api/esm.html#esm_ecmascript_modules is the relevant docs
Those work, but it points to a potential problem with the package itself: the docs for the package were written with ESM in mind. Not many packages are documenting node v14 ESM compatibility yet, so this next error makes me think to check what the npm package shipped
I couldn't reproduce the crickets issue this time, although in my exploration of using ESM exclusively for some projects *I have definitely seen this behavior*.
however, scripts in file:// situations with type=module throw CORS errors, as described here:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Modules
however, scripts in file:// situations with type=module throw CORS errors, as described here:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Modules
The CORS issues are even thrown for files that don't exist, so maybe there was a difference in FireFox version (I used the 75.0b5 developer edition, so maybe better error messages are on their way to mainline?)
I hope this helps someone fighting similar issues, and thanks to @LeaVerou for surfacing it. I'm happy to answer questions from anyone who happens along this thread as I've been working with ESM in the browser and node for awhile now.
