Node.JS vm.runInNewContext() vs require() and eval()

Question

• Is vm.runInNewContext considered black magic like eval?
• Is there a significant performance difference between require and reading a file

Answer 1

runInNewContext is not meant to be used as a replacement of require or eval, but instead as a way to create a sandbox environment where you can safely run other scripts.

Disadvantages are that it's slow (creation takes ~10 ms.) and takes up a couple megabytes. So no, don't use it as a require replacement.