systemjs

What is systemjs?

SystemJS is a dynamic module loader that can load ES modules, AMD, CommonJS, and global scripts in the browser and Node.js. It provides a way to load modules asynchronously and supports various module formats, making it a versatile tool for managing dependencies and module loading in JavaScript applications.

What are systemjs's main functionalities?

Loading ES Modules

SystemJS can dynamically import ES modules. The code sample demonstrates how to load an ES module asynchronously and handle the loaded module.

System.import('/path/to/module.js').then(function(module) {
  console.log(module);
});

Loading CommonJS Modules

SystemJS can also load CommonJS modules. The code sample shows how to load a CommonJS module asynchronously.

System.import('/path/to/commonjs-module.js').then(function(module) {
  console.log(module);
});

Loading AMD Modules

SystemJS supports loading AMD modules. The code sample demonstrates how to load an AMD module asynchronously.

System.import('/path/to/amd-module.js').then(function(module) {
  console.log(module);
});

Loading Global Scripts

SystemJS can load global scripts that do not export any modules. The code sample shows how to load a global script asynchronously.

System.import('/path/to/global-script.js').then(function() {
  console.log('Global script loaded');
});

Configuring SystemJS

SystemJS allows configuration for module loading. The code sample demonstrates how to configure the base URL, paths, and module mappings.

System.config({
  baseURL: '/base/url',
  paths: {
    'npm:': 'https://unpkg.com/'
  },
  map: {
    'jquery': 'npm:jquery@3.5.1/dist/jquery.js'
  }
});

Other packages similar to systemjs

requirejs

RequireJS is a JavaScript file and module loader. It is optimized for in-browser use, but it can be used in other JavaScript environments, such as Rhino and Node. Compared to SystemJS, RequireJS primarily focuses on AMD modules and does not support as many module formats.

webpack

Webpack is a module bundler that takes modules with dependencies and generates static assets representing those modules. Unlike SystemJS, which is a dynamic module loader, Webpack bundles modules at build time, which can result in better performance for production applications.

browserify

Browserify allows you to use Node.js-style require() to organize your browser code and load modules. It transforms Node.js modules into a format that can be used in the browser. Compared to SystemJS, Browserify focuses on CommonJS modules and does not support as many module formats.

es-module-loader

ES Module Loader is a polyfill for the ES Module Loader specification. It provides a way to load ES modules in environments that do not natively support them. Compared to SystemJS, ES Module Loader is more focused on ES modules and does not support other module formats.

README

SystemJS

Spec-compliant universal module loader - loads ES6 modules, AMD, CommonJS and global scripts.

Designed as a collection of small extensions to the ES6 specification System loader, which can also be applied individually.

• Loads any module format, by detecting the format automatically. Modules can also specify their format with meta config.
• Provides comprehensive and exact replications of AMD, CommonJS and ES6 circular reference handling.
• Loads ES6 modules compiled into the System.register form for production, maintaining full circular references support.
• Supports RequireJS-style map, paths, bundles, shim and plugins.
• Tracks package versions, and resolves semver-compatibile requests through package version syntax - package@x.y.z, package^@x.y.z.
• Loader plugins allow loading assets through the module naming system such as CSS, JSON or images.

Designed to work with the ES6 Module Loader polyfill (8KB) for a combined total footprint of 16KB minified and gzipped. In future, with native implementations, the ES6 Module Loader polyfill should no longer be necessary. As jQuery provides for the DOM, this library can smooth over inconsistiencies and missing practical functionality provided by the native System loader.

Runs in IE8+ and NodeJS.

For discussion, see the Google Group.

Basic Configuration

Setup

Download es6-module-loader.js and traceur.js and locate them in the same folder as system.js from this repo.

We then include dist/system.js with a script tag in the page.

es6-module-loader.js will then be included from the same folder automatically and Traceur is dynamically included from traceur.js when loading an ES6 module only.

Alternatively, es6-module-loader.js or traceur.js can be included before system.js with a script tag in the page.

Simple Application Structure

The standard application structure would be something like the following:

index.html:

<script src="system.js"></script>
<script>
  // Identical to writing System.baseURL = ...
  System.config({

    // set all requires to "lib" for library code
    baseURL: '/lib',
    
    // set "app" as an exception for our application code
    paths: {
      'app/*': '/app/*.js'
    }
  });

  System.import('app/app')
  // we add this since promises suppress all errors
  .catch(console.error.bind(console));
</script>

app/app.js:

  // relative require for within the package
  require('./local-dep');    // -> /app/local-dep.js

  // library resource
  var $ = require('jquery'); // -> /lib/jquery.js

  // format detected automatically
  console.log('loaded CommonJS');

Module format detection happens in the order System.register, ES6, AMD, then CommonJS and falls back to global modules.

Named defines are also supported, with the return value for a module containing named defines being its last named define.

Note that when running locally, ensure you are running from a local server or a browser with local XHR requests enabled. If not you will get an error message.

For Chrome on Mac, you can run it with: /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --allow-file-access-from-files &> /dev/null &

In Firefox this requires navigating to about:config, entering security.fileuri.strict_origin_policy in the filter box and toggling the option to false.

Loading ES6

app/es6-file.js:

  export class q {
    constructor() {
      this.es6 = 'yay';
    }
  }

  <script>
    System.import('app/es6-file').then(function(m) {
      console.log(new m.q().es6); // yay
    }, console.error.bind(console));
  </script>

ES6 modules define named exports, provided as getters on a special immutable Module object.

To build for production, see the System.register build workflow.

For further infomation on ES6 module loading, see the ES6 Module Loader polyfill documentation.

Features

Map Configuration

Map configuration alters the module name at the normalization stage. It is useful for creating aliases:

  System.map['jquery'] = 'location/for/jquery';

  System.import('jquery')           // -> 'location/for/jquery'
  System.import('jquery/submodule') // -> `location/for/jquery/submodule'

Contexual map configuration can also be used to provide maps only for certain modules, which is useful for version mappings:

  System.map['some-module'] = {
    jquery: 'jquery@2.0.3'
  };

  // some-module.js now gets 'jquery@2.0.3'
  // everything else still gets 'location/for/jquery'

Contextual maps apply from the most specific module name match only.

Meta Configuration

The ES6 module loader uses a special metadata object that is passed between hooks.

An example of meta config is the module format of a module, which is stored at metadata.format.

The meta extension opens up this object for setting defaults through System.meta as well as inline module syntax.

In this way, we can specify the module format of a module through config:

  System.meta['some/module'] = {
    format: 'amd'
  };

  System.import('some/module') // always loaded as AMD even if it is a UMD module

Or the module can even specify its own meta:

some/module.js

  "format amd";

  if (typeof module != 'undefined' && module.exports)
    module.exports = 'cjs';
  else
    define(function() { return 'amd' });

Since it is impossible to write 100% accurate module detection, this inline format hint provides a useful way of informing the module format of a module.

The format options are - register, es6, amd, cjs, global.

Global Module Format Support

When a module is loaded as a global, the global object is detected automatically from the change in the window properties:

app/sample-global.js

  hello = 'world';

  System.import('app/sample-global').then(function(m) {
    m == 'world';
  }, console.error.bind(console));

When multiple global properties are detected, the module object becomes the collection of those objects:

app/multi-global.js

  first = 'global1';
  var second = 'global2';

System.import('app/multi-global').then(function(m) {
  m.first == 'global1';
  m.second == 'global2';
}, console.error.bind(console));

Global dependencies can be specified with the deps meta config:

app/another-global.js

  $(document).fn();
  this.is = 'a global dependent on jQuery';

  System.meta['app/another-global'] = { deps: ['jquery'] };

The exports meta config can also be set (using inline meta as an example):

app/more-global.js

  "format global";
  "deps jquery";
  "exports my.export";

  (function(global) {
    global.my = {
      export: 'value'
    };
    $(document).fn();
  })(typeof window != 'undefined' ? window : global);

There is also supports for the init function meta config just like RequireJS as well.

IE8 Support

In IE8, automatic global detection does not work for globals declared as variables or implicitly:

  var someGlobal = 'IE8 wont detect this';
  anotherGlobal = 'unless using an explicit shim';

IF IE8 support is needed, these exports will need to be declared manually with configuration.

Versions

An optional syntax for version support can be used: moduleName@version.

For example, consider an app which wants to specify the jQuery version through config:

  System.versions['jquery'] = '2.0.3';

Now an import of the form:

  System.import('jquery')
  .catch(console.error.bind(console));

will load a load will be made to the file /lib/[e-mail].

This centralises the version management to the configuration file, which is key to handling versions with correct caching.

For multi-version support, provide an array of versions:

  System.versions['jquery'] = ['2.0.3', '1.8.3'];

These correspond to /lib/[e-mail] and /lib/[e-mail].

Semver-compatible requires of any of the following forms can be used:

  System.import('jquery')        // -> /lib/[e-mail]
  System.import('jquery@2')      // -> /lib/[e-mail]
  System.import('jquery@2.0')    // -> /lib/[e-mail]
  
  System.import('jquery@1')      // -> /lib/[e-mail]
  System.import('jquery@1.8')    // -> /lib/[e-mail]
  System.import('jquery@1.8.2')  // -> /lib/[e-mail]
  
  // semver compatible form (caret operator ^)
  System.import('jquery@^2')     // -> /lib/[e-mail]
  System.import('jquery@^1.8.2') // -> /lib/[e-mail]
  System.import('jquery@^1.8')   // -> /lib/[e-mail]

Relative Dynamic Loading

Modules can check their own name from the global variable __moduleName.

This allows easy relative dynamic loading, allowing modules to load additional functionality after the initial load:

export function moreFunctionality() {
  return System.import('./extrafunctionality', { name: __moduleName });
}

This can be useful for modules that may only know during runtime which functionality they need to load.

Plugins

Plugins handle alternative loading scenarios, including loading assets such as CSS or images, and providing custom transpilation scenarios.

Plugins are indicated by ! syntax, which unlike RequireJS is appended at the end of the module name, not the beginning.

The plugin name is just a module name itself, and if not specified, is assumed to be the extension name of the module.

Supported Plugins:

• CSS System.import('my/file.css!')
• Image System.import('some/image.png!image')
• JSON System.import('some/data.json!').then(function(json){})
• Text System.import('some/text.txt!text').then(function(text) {})

Additional Plugins:

• Markdown System.import('app/some/project/README.md!').then(function(html) {})
• WebFont System.import('google Port Lligat Slab, Droid Sans !font')

Creating custom plugins can be quite simple. See the plugins above, and read the guide here.

ES6 System.register Compilation

If writing an application in ES6, we can compile into ES5 with Traceur:

  npm install traceur -g

  traceur --dir app app-built --modules=instantiate

This will compile all ES6 files in the directory app into corresponding ES5 System.register files in app-built.

The instantiate modules option writes the modules out using a System.register call, which is supported by SystemJS.

Then include traceur-runtime.js (also found inside traceur's bin folder when installed via npm) before es6-module-loader.js:

  <script src="traceur-runtime.js"></script>
  <script src="system.js"></script>
  <script>
    System.paths['app/*'] = 'app-built/*.js';
  </script>

We can then use map or paths config to ensure that app/main gets directed to the new folder. Alternatively rename app-built to replace app.

Now the application will continue to behave identically without needing to compile ES6 in the browser.

Compiling ES6 to ES5 and AMD

The same method above can also be used to compile ES6 into AMD with --modules=amd.

We can then use the r.js optimizer to create a bundle with named defines, which are supported by SystemJS.

Note that the ES6 live bindings and circular references don't work in AMD, although circular references still work in many cases.

Bundles

Bundles configuration allows a single bundle file to be loaded in place of separate module files.

  System.bundles['build/core'] = ['jquery', 'app/app', 'app/dep', 'lib/third-party'];
  
  // loads "app/app" from the module "build/core".
  System.import('app/app'));
  
  // a request to any one of 'jquery', 'app/app', 'app/dep', 'lib/third-party'
  // would delegate to the "build/core" module

A built file must contain the exact named defines or named System.register statements for the modules it contains. Mismatched names will result in separate requests still being made.

We can create a custom bundle with Traceur by combining together a module with all its dependencies into a single file:

  traceur --out build.js app/main.js app/core.js app/another.js

Each file will be traced and all its dependencies included in the final build file.

We can also just include this bundle with a <script> tag in the page.

CSP-Compatible Production

SystemJS comes with a separate build for production only. This is fully CSP-compatible using script tag injection to load scripts, while still remaining an extension of the ES6 Module Loader.

Replace the system.js file with dist/system-production-csp.js.

If we have compiled all our modules into a System.register bundle, we can do:

  <script src="system-production-csp.js"></script>
  <script>
    System.paths['app-built'] = '/app-built.js';
    System.bundles['app-built'] = ['app/main'];
    System.import('app/main').then(function(m) { 
      // loads app/main from the app-built bundle
    }, console.error.bind(console));
  </script>

To make all module formats work with CSP, we need to ensure everything is built with a suitable wrapper.

See SystemJS Builder for a single-file build workflow that can wrap up all module formats.

RequireJS Support

To use SystemJS side-by-side in a RequireJS project, make sure to include RequireJS before SystemJS.

Conversely, to have SystemJS provide a RequireJS-like API in an application set:

window.define = loader.amdDefine;
window.require = window.requirejs = loader.amdRequire;

NodeJS Usage

To load modules in NodeJS, install SystemJS with:

  npm install systemjs

We can then load modules equivalently to in the browser:

var System = require('systemjs');

// loads './app.js' from the current directory
System.import('./app').then(function(m) {
  console.log(m);
}, function(e) {
  console.log(e);
});

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. The goal of SystemJS is to encourage loaders made out of small self-contained features.

Since different builds can be created for different use cases, new builds or new features are welcome to be submitted for consideration with pull requests.

Running the tests

To install the dependencies correctly, run bower install from the root of the repo, then open test/test.html in a browser with a local server or file access flags enabled.

License

MIT