node-polyfill-webpack-plugin

What is node-polyfill-webpack-plugin?

The node-polyfill-webpack-plugin is a plugin for webpack that allows you to inject Node.js core modules into your bundle. It's particularly useful when you're working on a project that is expected to run in an environment where these core modules are not natively available, such as in the browser. This plugin ensures that your code can use Node.js modules like 'path', 'fs', etc., by providing browser-compatible versions of these modules.

What are node-polyfill-webpack-plugin's main functionalities?

Polyfill Node.js core modules

This feature allows you to automatically polyfill Node.js core modules in your webpack bundle. By adding this plugin to your webpack configuration, you ensure that your code can use Node.js modules like 'crypto', 'stream', or 'util' even when running in a browser environment.

const NodePolyfillPlugin = require('node-polyfill-webpack-plugin');

module.exports = {
  plugins: [
    new NodePolyfillPlugin()
  ]
};

Other packages similar to node-polyfill-webpack-plugin

polyfill-library

The 'polyfill-library' is similar to 'node-polyfill-webpack-plugin' in that it provides polyfills for modern web APIs and features for older browsers. However, it focuses more on ECMAScript features and web APIs rather than Node.js core modules.

webpack-node-externals

While 'webpack-node-externals' is designed to exclude node modules during the webpack bundling process for server-side applications, it serves a purpose opposite to 'node-polyfill-webpack-plugin'. Instead of adding Node.js core modules to the bundle, it helps in excluding them to reduce the bundle size for server-side packages.

README

node-polyfill-webpack-plugin

Polyfill Node.js core modules in Webpack.

This module is only needed for Webpack 5+.

Install

npm install node-polyfill-webpack-plugin

Usage

Add the following to your webpack.config.js:

const NodePolyfillPlugin = require('node-polyfill-webpack-plugin');

module.exports = {
	// Other rules...
	plugins: [
		new NodePolyfillPlugin(),
	],
};

console, process, and most deprecated/internal Node.js core modules are not polyfilled by default. If you still need to polyfill them, you can use the additionalAliases option:

const NodePolyfillPlugin = require('node-polyfill-webpack-plugin');

module.exports = {
	// Other rules...
	plugins: [
		new NodePolyfillPlugin({
			additionalAliases: ['process', 'punycode'],
		}),
	],
};

The fs module resolves to nothing because its functionality cannot replicated in the browser.

API

new NodePolyfillPlugin(options?)

options

Type: object

onlyAliases is mutually exclusive with excludeAliases and additionalAliases.

excludeAliases

If you don't want a module to be polyfilled, you can specify aliases to be skipped here.

const NodePolyfillPlugin = require('node-polyfill-webpack-plugin');

module.exports = {
	// Other rules...
	plugins: [
		new NodePolyfillPlugin({
			excludeAliases: ['console'],
		}),
	],
};

additionalAliases

Alternatively, you can choose to add certain aliases to the list of polyfilled modules. For example, you can choose to polyfill console.

const NodePolyfillPlugin = require('node-polyfill-webpack-plugin');

module.exports = {
	// Other rules...
	plugins: [
		new NodePolyfillPlugin({
			additionalAliases: ['console'],
		}),
	],
};

onlyAliases

You can also choose to only include certain aliases, ignoring the defaults. For example, you can have only console polyfilled.

const NodePolyfillPlugin = require('node-polyfill-webpack-plugin');

module.exports = {
	// Other rules...
	plugins: [
		new NodePolyfillPlugin({
			onlyAliases: ['console'],
		}),
	],
};

Aliases

Globals

• Buffer
• console
• process

Modules

• assert
• buffer
• console
• constants
• crypto
• domain
• events
• http
• https
• os
• path
• punycode
• process
• querystring
• stream
• _stream_duplex
• _stream_passthrough
• _stream_readable
• _stream_transform
• _stream_writable
• string_decoder
• sys
• timers
• tty
• url
• util
• vm
• zlib