What is the benefit of importing process in node?

Question

I am used to simply using process.cwd() directly inside of node applications, however, I have recently read the node docs and saw that it recommends importing it from node:process.

So what is the difference from just calling it directly?

process.cwd()

vs importing it and calling it:

import {cwd} from 'node:process'

cwd()

I am currently building a CLI application in case that makes a difference.

Is there a difference?
Which one should I be using?

@JaromandaX sorry, I work on web apps too but I guess there is no bundle in this case. — Chris, Oct 31 '22 at 07:54
seeing as web apps have no access to `process` that would be a good guess :p — Jaromanda X, Oct 31 '22 at 07:56
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/71473345/whats-the-difference-between-nodeprocess-and-process — Dave Pile, Oct 31 '22 at 07:59
@DavePile I read that it did explain the difference between the types of imports but why do I need to import it at all? since it is usually already present and can be used with out the need to import it. — Chris, Oct 31 '22 at 08:01

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 31 '22 at 08:06

importing it from node:process guarentees that you get the built-in process module, not some global that some other code in the project has configured or overridden.

This may be done for safety reasons or just for robustness reasons so other modules in the project can't hack on a global process object before you get to use it.

It also may not normally be needed, but is considered good project hygiene as it deters certain types of hacking.

What is the benefit of importing process in node?

1 Answers1