Modern JavaScript Era
Overview of post-ES6 growth: modules, tooling, bundlers, and the modern JS ecosystem.
Short explanation
The modern JavaScript era started with ES6 (2015), bringing modules, classes, arrow functions, and more. This period also saw the rise of tooling: bundlers, transpilers, and package managers that make large-scale JS projects manageable.
Real-world example
Modules allow you to split code into reusable files and import them where needed:
// math.js
export function add(a, b) {
return a + b;
}
// main.js
import { add } from './math.js';
console.log(add(2, 3)); // 5
Tooling example: developers use bundlers (Webpack, Rollup, Vite) to package modules, transpile modern syntax for compatibility, and optimize assets.
How JS handles it internally
Module syntax is parsed by the JS parser and mapped to module records that define imports and exports. In bundlers, modules are transformed into a single script or smaller chunks; in native environments, the runtime manages module loading.
Diagram
Related
🔗 Related:
FAQ
Q: Are modules supported in all browsers?
A: Most modern browsers support ES modules. For older environments, bundlers provide a compatibility layer.
Q: Why use a bundler?
A: Bundlers enable optimizations like tree-shaking, code-splitting, and assets processing, which improve performance in production.