Exercise - Compile modules

  • 5 minutes

Modules import one another using a module loader. At runtime, the module loader locates and executes all dependencies of a module before executing it. Depending on the module target that you specify during compilation, the compiler will generate appropriate code for Node.js (CommonJS), require.js (AMD), UMD, SystemJS, or ECMAScript 2015 native modules (ES6) module-loading systems. 

To compile modules, specify a --module target on the command line or in the tsconfig.json file for the project.

Continue your project from the previous exercise.

  1. Open the terminal and compile the main.ts module for Node.js by typing the following command:

    tsc --module commonjs main.ts

  2. The compiler follows import statements to compile all dependent files. Notice that when main.ts is compiled, each module will become a separate .js file.

  3. Type node main to test the file.

Running modules from a web page

If you want to instead compile the TypeScript file for ES6 for use in a web browser, type the following command:

tsc --module es6 main.ts

To run a module from a web page, remember to set the type option to "module":

<script type="module" src=".\main.js"></script>

Exercise solution

To see the solution to this exercise, clone the repository by entering the following at the command prompt.

git clone https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/mslearn-typescript
cd mslearn-typescript/code/module-07/module07-exercise-01-end
code .