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webpack
A bundler for javascript and friends. Packs many modules into a few bundled assets. Code Splitting allows for loading parts of the application on demand. Through "loaders", modules can be CommonJs, AMD, ES6 modules, CSS, Images, JSON, Coffeescript, LESS, ... and your custom stuff.
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Since developers were already familiar with this way of importing packages from npm, a build step was needed to ensure that code written in this manner could run in a browser. This problem was solved by import maps. Essentially, it allows the mapping of import specifiers to a relative or absolute URL, which helps to control the resolution of the module without the application of a build step.
An example of a polyfill that can be used is the ES Module Shims polyfill that adds support for import maps and other new module features to any browser with baseline support for ES modules (about 94% of browsers). All you need to do is include the es-module-shim script in your HTML file before your import map script:
This was slightly different from how modules worked in other common module systems, such as CommonJS, and when using a module bundler like webpack, where a simpler syntax was used:
As I've demonstrated throughout this article, production-ready versions of any NPM package that use ES Modules can be utilized in your import maps through CDNs like ESM, Unpkg, and Skypack. Even if the package on NPM wasn't designed for the ES Modules system and native browser import behavior, services like Skypack and ESM can transform them to be ready to use in an import map. You can use the search bar on Skypack's homepage to find browser-optimized NPM packages that can be used right away without fiddling with a build step.