Babel ES6 import error, SyntaxError: Unexpected token import

Question

I am trying to set up a basic modular program, however I seem to be running into issues with importing modules. I attempt to import my custom module, I get the following error:

(function (exports, require, module, __filename, __dirname) { import testStep from 'testStep';
                                                          ^^^^^^
SyntaxError: Unexpected token import

The code that is causing the issue:

testcase.js

import testStep from 'testStep';

testStep.hello();

testStep.js

var testStep = {
  hello: hello,
};

var hello = () => {
  console.log('hello world');
};

export default {testStep};

package.json

{
  "name": "rebuild-poc",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "",
  "main": "index.js",
  "scripts": {
    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
  },
  "author": "",
  "license": "ISC",
  "devDependencies": {
    "babel-polyfill": "^6.23.0",
    "babel-preset-env": "^1.6.0"
  },
  "dependencies": {}
}

.babelrc

{
  "presets": [
    "env"
  ]
}

I have already tried several other fixes, such as setting testStep as a class, as well as using require('./testStep.js'), however neither of those seem to have worked.

Do I have something set up incorrectly with babel or in one of my files?

***Edit: I am running testCase.js with node testCase.js.

Answer 1

Please install babel-cli and call your file with: ./node_modules/.bin/babel-node testcase.js

It will fail. Now we have to fix your code.

testStep.js should look like:

var hello = () => {
  console.log('hello world');
};

var testStep = {
  hello: hello,
};

export default testStep;

Then, it will work. ;)

This first introduction on https://babeljs.io/ is, that you should install babel-cli and babel-preset-env. ;)

You can also write your testStep.js like this:

var testStep = {
  hello: hello,
};

function hello () {
  console.log('hello world');
};

export default testStep;

This keeps the hoisting in mind. Like Jacob said in his first point.

Answer 2

From the babel 6 Release notes:

Plugin Presets

$ npm install --save-dev babel-preset-env

save it .babelrc file

{
  presets: ["env"]
}

Note: https://babeljs.io/docs/en/babel-preset-env#docsNav