When doing require for npm package, what is meaning of slash in package name?

Question

While "requiring" non-local NodeJS modules, what is the meaning of slash in module name?

Example:
from ShellJS npm module's github page (link: https://github.com/shelljs/shelljs#javascript)

require('shelljs/global');
require('shelljs/make');

Upon looking at the directory structure of ShellJS github project, I notice that both global.js and make.js are both at same level as shell.js which is the main entry point of the module as per its package.json. So what does the slash mean in the package name and how, in above example, is the path to "global" and "make" resolved?

Answer 1

Slash (as it primary use), is just simply used for file paths.

require('shelljs/global') will load script of global.js file.

require('shelljs/make') will load script of make.js file.

However, require('shelljs') will load script of shell.js. Why? Let's look at the content of package.json: It's "main": "./shell.js" that makes the magic.