webpack import firebase not working

Question

I'm having an issue getting firebase 3.0.1 to work. I have a feeling it's in regards to my webpack setup. My files are below. When running my app with webpack dev server I get the error:

Uncaught TypeError: firebase.initializeApp is not a function

The interesting thing is that if I put a debugger; or breakpoint after var firebase = require('firebase'); it seems to be an empty object.

webpack.config.js

const webpack = require("webpack");

module.exports = {
    entry: './src/index.js',
    output: {
        path: 'public',
        filename: 'bundle.js'
    },
    module: {
        loaders: [{
            test: /\.js$/,
            exclude: /node_modules/,
            loader: 'babel-loader?presets[]=es2015&presets[]=react'
        }]
    },
    plugins: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' ? [
        new webpack.optimize.DedupePlugin(),
        new webpack.optimize.OccurrenceOrderPlugin(),
        new webpack.optimize.UglifyJsPlugin()
    ] : []
};

package.json

{
  "name": "burn",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "burn messaging",
  "main": "index.js",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "if-env NODE_ENV=production && npm run start:prod || npm run start:dev",
    "start:dev": "webpack-dev-server --inline --content-base public --history-api-fallback",
    "start:prod": "webpack && firebase deploy"
  },
  "author": "James Gilchrist <[email protected]>",
  "license": "ISC",
  "dependencies": {
    "compression": "^1.6.2",
    "express": "^4.13.4",
    "firebase": "^3.0.1",
    "if-env": "^1.0.0",
    "react": "^15.0.2",
    "react-dom": "^15.0.2",
    "react-router": "^2.4.0"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "babel-core": "^6.9.0",
    "babel-loader": "^6.2.4",
    "babel-preset-es2015": "^6.9.0",
    "babel-preset-react": "^6.5.0",
    "webpack": "^1.13.0",
    "webpack-dev-server": "^1.14.1"
  }
}

index.js

var firebase = require('firebase');

var config = {
    apiKey: "AIzaSyA9gUmSBu4SZ4P9H_4lXuN1ouD_GBKq3aw",
    authDomain: "burn-56840.firebaseapp.com",
    databaseURL: "https://burn-56840.firebaseio.com",
    storageBucket: "burn-56840.appspot.com"
};
firebase.initializeApp(config);

Answer 1

I had the same problem, there's a simple fix though:

var firebase = require('firebase/app');

This way you get the "real" firebase module. However you must now require each module you'll need so it loads correctly, like so:

var firebase = require('firebase/app');
// all 3 are optional and you only need to require them at the start
require('firebase/auth');
require('firebase/database');
require('firebase/storage');

It seems to me that something is wrong with the current initialisation code, looking at the source it should work; but then again, somewhat like you, I'm using browserify, and haven't tested outside of it, so it might be related.