Es Modules Are Terrible
Posted3 months agoActive3 months ago
gist.github.comTechstory
heatednegative
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Es ModulesJavascriptModule Systems
Key topics
Es Modules
Javascript
Module Systems
The author argues that ES Modules are flawed and presents several criticisms, sparking a discussion about their design and implications.
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- 01Story posted
Oct 8, 2025 at 9:54 PM EDT
3 months ago
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Oct 9, 2025 at 12:17 AM EDT
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Oct 11, 2025 at 4:19 PM EDT
3 months ago
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But if you use "module: true" in your package.json, you are splitting the npm ecosystem into two groups, and it's not moving us forward.
this is also similar to the non-incremental way TS rolled out in the early days, also causing knee-jerk reactions to TypeScript. However over time, devs found ways to incrementally type JS to TS, and so we've all mostly evolved by now.
If ESM could do similar, allowing for incremental evolution, then it would solve all of the problems. I don't see why cjs and esm cannot co-exist