Module.Exports Vs Exports in Node.Js

When working with Node.js, you may have come across the terms module.exports and exports. These two keywords are used to export functions, objects, or values from a module to be used in other parts of your code. While they may seem similar, there are some key differences between them.

The Basics

Let’s start with a brief overview of each keyword:

• module.exports: This is the actual object that is returned as the result of a require call. It can be any JavaScript value, such as a function, object, or primitive.
• exports: This is a shorthand reference to module.exports. Initially, exports is set to reference the same object as module.exports. However, if you reassign exports to a new value, it will no longer reference module.exports.

Using module.exports

When you want to export a single function or object from a module, you can assign it directly to module.exports. Here’s an example:

module.exports = {
  greet: function(name) {
    console.log("Hello, " + name + "!");
  }
};

In the above code, we are exporting an object with a single function called greet. This can be imported into another module using require and used like this:

const greeter = require('./greeter');
greeter.greet('John');

The output of the above code would be:

Hello, John!

Using exports

If you want to export multiple functions or objects from a module, you can use the exports shorthand. Here’s an example:

exports.sayHello = function() {
  console.log("Hello!");
};

exports.sayGoodbye = function() {
  console.log("Goodbye!");
};

In the above code, we are exporting two functions, sayHello and sayGoodbye. These can be imported and used in another module like this:

const greetings = require('./greetings');
greetings.sayHello();
greetings.sayGoodbye();

The output of the above code would be:

Hello!
Goodbye!

Conclusion

Both module.exports and exports serve the same purpose of exporting values from a module in Node.js. However, it’s important to understand the differences between them. If you are exporting a single function or object, you can assign it directly to module.exports. If you are exporting multiple functions or objects, you can use the exports shorthand. Just remember that if you reassign exports to a new value, it will no longer reference module.exports.

That’s it for this blog post! I hope you found it helpful in understanding the differences between module.exports and exports in Node.js. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below.