How does require work with new operator in node.js?

Question

Let\'s have a file.js with this code:

module.exports.func = function(txt) {
    this.a = 1;
    this.b = 2;
    console.log(txt, this);
    return this;
}


        

Answer 1

These two versions are fundamentally different.

This one:

new (require('./file')).func('r1');

Executes the require, returning the exports of ./file and then calling the new operator on the results .

This one:

var r2 = new require('./file').func('r2');

Invokes require as a constructor.

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Let's look at a more isolated and simple example:

new Date() // creates a new date object
new (Date()) // throws a TypeError: string is not a function