Why es6 react component works only with “export default”?

259
votes

This component does work:

export class Template extends React.Component {
    render() {
        return (
            <div> component </div>
        );
    }
};
export default Template;

If i remove last row, it doesn't work.

Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property 'toUpperCase' of undefined

I guess, I don't understand something in es6 syntax. Isn't it have to export without sign "default"?

2
javascriptecmascript-6
you can write as export default class Template extends React.Component { – andykenward
I know. But how can I import component that was exported without "default"? It should be possible – stkvtflw
@stkvtflw If I answered your question please accept it so other users can benefit too. – Jed Richards

2 Answers

608
votes

Exporting without default means it's a "named export". You can have multiple named exports in a single file. So if you do this,

class Template {}
class AnotherTemplate {}

export { Template, AnotherTemplate }

then you have to import these exports using their exact names. So to use these components in another file you'd have to do,

import {Template, AnotherTemplate} from './components/templates'

Alternatively if you export as the default export like this,

export default class Template {}

Then in another file you import the default export without using the {}, like this,

import Template from './components/templates'

There can only be one default export per file. In React it's a convention to export one component from a file, and to export it is as the default export.

You're free to rename the default export as you import it,

import TheTemplate from './components/templates'

And you can import default and named exports at the same time,

import Template,{AnotherTemplate} from './components/templates'
9
votes

Add { } while importing and exporting: export { ... }; | import { ... } from './Template';

export → import { ... } from './Template'

export default → import ... from './Template'

Here is a working example: 

// ExportExample.js
import React from "react";

function DefaultExport() {
  return "This is the default export";
}

function Export1() {
  return "Export without default 1";
}

function Export2() {
  return "Export without default 2";
}

export default DefaultExport;
export { Export1, Export2 };

// App.js
import React from "react";
import DefaultExport, { Export1, Export2 } from "./ExportExample";

export default function App() {
  return (
    <>
      <strong>
        <DefaultExport />
      </strong>
      <br />
      <Export1 />
      <br />
      <Export2 />
    </>
  );
}

⚡️Working sandbox to play around: https://codesandbox.io/s/export-import-example-react-jl839?fontsize=14&hidenavigation=1&theme=dark