📦 Node.js – Types of Modules

Types of Modules in Node.js

Node.js provides different types of modules to organize and reuse code effectively.

The main types are Local Modules, Core Modules, and Third-Party Modules.

Local modules are modules that you create yourself and use in your application.

A good example is a module library.js that can be imported in main.js.

To import a local module, use the require() function with the path to your module:

• require('./filename')
• require('./filename.js')
• require('./path/filename.js')

Core modules come with Node.js by default. You do not need to download them.

Popular core modules include fs (File System), os (Operating System), path, etc.

Global core modules like console do not require importing.

Non-global core modules like fs must be imported before use.

Third-party modules are downloaded via a package manager like npm.

They are usually stored in the node_modules folder and can be installed locally or globally.

Examples include express, mongoose, react, etc.

To install a third-party module:

• Locally: npm i module_name
• Globally: npm i module_name -g

To import a third-party module, use require() with the module name: