Modules
The Module Design Pattern is an integral piece of any robust application and is used to keep units of code cleanly separated and organized. NativeScript has a simple module loading mechanism which strictly follows the CommonJS Specification. Most of the functionality is similar with the Node.js implementation with some minor differences. A typical NativeScript application will use the set of modules which add cross-platform abstraction layer on top of OS-specific APIs.
NativeScript Modules vs. Node Modules
Following are the differences between Node modules and NativeScript modules:
Core Modules
NativeScript Runtime does not have built-in JavaScript modules, which enables developers to have complete control over module implementation.
Loading From tns_modules
If the module identifier passed to
require(moduleName) does not begin with '/', '../',
or './', then NativeScript will lookup the module within the
tns_modules folder. Since there is only one such folder within
an application,
the lookup will happen only once, unlike in Node which
recursively traverses the parent directories as well.
Global Folders
Unlike in Node, NativeScript does not have the
notation for Global Modules. Modules are private for
the application package. The require implementation
will throw an exception in case a module from the external
storage is attempted to be loaded.