exports vs module.exports in Node.js

exports.id = 1; //this is ok

exports = {id: 1}; //this is not ok

module.exports = {id: 1}; //this is ok

WHY?

exports is simply a variable reference to module.exports. So we can change the properties of the exports object, but if we change the whole object, it would no longer be a reference to module.exports

Comments

[Basti Ortiz]

Well, that was short and sweet. 👌

[Sonntags]

Node supports ECMAScript Modules also, but they are currently experimental.
To enable them, add --experimental-modules for node.