How does webpack resolve imports from node_modules?

webpack node-modules
BetaRide picture BetaRide · Jun 17, 2016 · Viewed 18.6k times · Source

When I need a library from my node_modules folder I do something like this:

import angular from 'angular';
import $ from 'jquery;

How does webpack know what file(s) it really has to import? Guess there's some kind of strategy what files it's going to check?

Answer

Grgur picture Grgur · Jun 17, 2016

Webpack loops over resolvers to find the file you requested. It goes over resolve templates to figure out the exact path.

If you try to import a module that doesn't exist you'll see the error trace outlining all the paths it tried to use to find the file but failed.

Resolvers are a powerful configuration tool that could help you develop better code. I really appreciate that resolvers allow me to drop relative paths and use more developer-friendly ES6 imports.

I hope that helps.

Related questions

What are differences between SystemJS and Webpack?

I'm creating my first Angular application and I would figure out what is the role of the module loaders. Why we need them? I tried to search and search on Google and I can't understand why we need to install …

Read More
I have a new project, but when execute ng serve, I get error

I need to change this topic, I cant post new topic. I have update the script, and install new package. I still get errors but not the one I post last. _ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ | | __ _ _ __ ___ | |(_) / _` || '_ \ / _` || | | || | / _` || '__|_____ / __|| || | | (_| || | | || (_| || |_| || || (_| || | |_____|| (__ | || | \__,_||_| |_| \__, | \__,_||_| \__,_||_| \___||_||_| |___/ angular-cli: 1.0.0-beta.26 node: 8.12.0 os: linux x64 @angular/…

Read More
Can't resolve 'babel-loader'

I am trying to configure my first node react app. I keep getting an error that says "Can't resolve babel-loader". Googling that error, I found a couple of suggestions which do not work. The first is to add the following …

Read More