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@babel/plugin-proposal-bytes-modules

Transforms import ... with { type: "bytes" } declarations to platform-specific API to read the imported file as an immutable Uint8Array.

caution

On platforms without support for immutable ArrayBuffers, Babel will return a Uint8Array backed by a mutable ArrayBuffer.

The transformation applied by this plugin depends on your top-level targets to detect whether the generated code should be compatible with Node.js, browsers, or both. When targeting Node.js, the generated code will also change depending on whether you are compiling modules to CommonJS or not.

caution

This plugin cannot be used when compiling modules to AMD, SystemJS, or UMD.

caution

This plugin only transforms import declarations and not dynamic import() calls.

Example

input.js
import bytes from "./image.png" with { type: "bytes" };

will be transformed to

output.js
const bytes = await fetch(import.meta.resolve("./image.png"))
.then(r => r.bytes())
.then(_immutableUint8Array);

Namespace imports are also supported, and are compiled to an object with a single default property:

input.js
import * as ns from "./image.png" with { type: "bytes" };

Named imports are not valid for bytes modules, and will cause a compilation error.

Installation

npm install --save-dev @babel/plugin-proposal-bytes-modules

Usage

babel.config.json
{
"plugins": ["@babel/plugin-proposal-bytes-modules"]
}

Via CLI

Shell
babel --plugins=@babel/plugin-proposal-bytes-modules script.js

Via Node API

JavaScript
require("@babel/core").transformSync("code", {
plugins: ["@babel/plugin-proposal-bytes-modules"],
});

References