JavaScript – Can Client-Side Replicate Node.js Module Loading?

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I like the Node.JS style of JavaScript, where I can write all of my functionalities into smaller files and then require those neatly from within my code. I'm even thinking about trying to write a framework to mimic that behavior in client-side JS.

My goal would be to implement the module loading system as accurately as possible – See Module docs.

For require(), I can use things detailed in answers to this question, most notably JQuery's $.getScript(). It seems to me that other aspects of the module loading system should be possible as well.

So I'm asking more experienced programmers here first, before I waist my time: Is there something that I'm missing that's going to cause such an attempt to fail miserably, or can this be successfully done?

Best Answer

No. Node.js require() is based on the Common.js module system which uses synchronous loading.

Unless you do some server-side preprocessing (bundling) to serve all scripts at once, this is impossible in the browser, where resources are should be loaded asynchronously. You might want to have a look at browserify.

However, there is the Asynchronous Module Definition proposal which has an async require function that takes a callback. This is widely implemented in various libraries, you probably don't have come up with your own. RequireJs is a well known one, you will find others when searching for "AMD loader".

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