How to run Node.js app with ES6 features enabled?

Question

I use the require hook of BabelJS (formerly named 6to5) to run node apps with es6features:

// run.js
require("babel/register");
require("./app.js6");

I call node run.js to run my app.js6. I need to install BabelJS and provide a run.js for each project I'd like to use es6features. I would prefer a call like nodejs6 app.js6. How can I achieve this system independently (Unix and Windows)?

Answer 1

Add the babel-cli and babel-preset-es2015 (aka ES6) dependencies to your app's package.json file and define a start script:

{
  "dependencies": {
    "babel-cli": "^6.0.0",
    "babel-preset-es2015": "^6.0.0"
  },
  "scripts": {
    "start": "babel-node --presets es2015 app.js"
  }
}

Then you can simply execute the following command to run your app:

npm start

If you ever decide to stop using Babel (e.g. once Node.js supports all ES6 features), you can just remove it from package.json:

{
  "dependencies": {},
  "scripts": {
    "start": "node app.js"
  }
}

One benefit of this is that the command to run your app remains the same, which helps if you are working with other developers.