module-from-string

Optimized drop-in replacement for require-from-string - Load module from string with better performance and memory efficiency.

Installation

npm install module-from-string

Usage

const moduleFromString = require('module-from-string');

const code = 'module.exports = 42;';
const result = moduleFromString(code);
console.log(result); // 42

API

moduleFromString(code, [filename], [options])

code

Type: string

Required. The module code to execute.

filename

Type: string Default: ''

Optional. The filename to use for the module. This will be available as __filename within the module.

options

Type: object

Optional configuration object. Can also be passed as the second parameter.

options.appendPaths

Type: array Default: []

Array of paths to append to module search paths.

options.prependPaths

Type: array Default: []

Array of paths to prepend to module search paths.

Examples

Basic usage

const moduleFromString = require('module-from-string');

const result = moduleFromString('module.exports = { foo: "bar" };');
console.log(result.foo); // 'bar'

With filename

const result = moduleFromString(
  'module.exports = __filename;',
  'virtual-module.js'
);
console.log(result); // 'virtual-module.js'

With custom paths

const result = moduleFromString(
  'module.exports = 42;',
  'module.js',
  { prependPaths: ['/custom/node_modules'] }
);

Options as second parameter

const result = moduleFromString('module.exports = 42;', {
  prependPaths: ['/custom/path']
});

Performance

This library includes several optimizations over the original require-from-string:

1. Destructured imports - Avoids property lookups on each call
2. Shared empty array - Reuses single array instance instead of creating new ones
3. Conditional path concatenation - Only spreads arrays when paths are non-empty
4. Memory leak prevention - Cleans up parent references to avoid memory leaks
5. Optional chaining - More efficient null checks

Run benchmarks:

npm install
npm run benchmark

Testing

npm test

Drop-in Replacement

This module is designed to be a 100% compatible drop-in replacement for require-from-string. Simply replace:

// Before
const requireFromString = require('require-from-string');

// After
const requireFromString = require('module-from-string');

All existing code will work without modifications.

License

MIT