<s>
CommonJS	B-Language
is	O
a	O
project	O
with	O
the	O
goal	O
to	O
establish	O
conventions	O
on	O
the	O
module	B-Architecture
ecosystem	O
for	O
JavaScript	B-Language
outside	O
of	O
the	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
primary	O
reason	O
for	O
its	O
creation	O
was	O
a	O
major	O
lack	O
of	O
commonly	O
accepted	O
forms	O
of	O
JavaScript	B-Language
module	B-Architecture
units	O
which	O
could	O
be	O
reusable	O
in	O
environments	O
different	O
from	O
that	O
provided	O
by	O
conventional	O
web	B-Application
browsers	I-Application
running	O
JavaScript	B-Language
scripts	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
CommonJS	B-Language
's	O
module	B-Architecture
specification	O
is	O
widely	O
used	O
today	O
,	O
in	O
particular	O
for	O
server-side	O
JavaScript	B-Language
programming	O
with	O
Node.js	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
also	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
browser-side	O
JavaScript	B-Language
,	O
but	O
the	O
code	O
must	O
be	O
packaged	O
with	O
a	O
transpiler	B-Language
since	O
browsers	B-Application
do	O
n't	O
support	O
CommonJS	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
other	O
major	O
module	B-Architecture
specification	O
in	O
use	O
is	O
the	O
ECMAScript	B-Language
(	O
ES	O
)	O
modules	B-Architecture
specification	O
(	O
ES6	O
modules	B-Architecture
aka	O
ES2015	O
modules	B-Architecture
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CommonJS	B-Language
can	O
be	O
recognized	O
by	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
require( )	O
function	O
and	O
module.exports	O
,	O
while	O
ES	O
modules	B-Architecture
use	O
import	O
and	O
export	O
statements	O
for	O
similar	O
(	O
though	O
not	O
identical	O
)	O
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
project	O
was	O
started	O
by	O
Mozilla	B-Operating_System
engineer	O
Kevin	O
Dangoor	O
in	O
January	O
,	O
2009	O
and	O
initially	O
named	O
ServerJS	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
August	O
2009	O
,	O
the	O
project	O
was	O
renamed	O
CommonJS	B-Language
to	O
show	O
the	O
broader	O
applicability	O
of	O
the	O
APIs	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
CommonJS	B-Language
is	O
not	O
affiliated	O
with	O
the	O
Ecma	O
International	O
group	O
TC39	O
working	O
on	O
ECMAScript	B-Language
,	O
but	O
some	O
members	O
of	O
TC39	O
participate	O
in	O
the	O
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
proposals	O
cover	O
much	O
more	O
than	O
modules	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
intend	O
to	O
define	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
APIs	B-Application
that	O
are	O
useful	O
both	O
for	O
non-web	O
JavaScript	B-Language
implementations	O
,	O
with	O
standardized	O
package	O
names	O
to	O
provide	O
interoperability	O
within	O
the	O
ecosystem	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
goal	O
sometimes	O
overlaps	O
with	O
that	O
of	O
TC39	O
,	O
and	O
parts	O
such	O
as	O
Promises	O
have	O
indeed	O
made	O
it	O
into	O
ECMAScript	B-Language
itself	O
.	O
</s>
