[javascript] Using import fs from 'fs'

In order to use import { readFileSync } from 'fs', you have to:

  1. Be using Node.js 10 or later
  2. Use the --experimental-modules flag (in Node.js 10), e.g. node --experimental-modules server.mjs (see #3 for explanation of .mjs)
  3. Rename the file extension of your file with the import statements, to .mjs, .js will not work, e.g. server.mjs

The other answers hit on 1 and 2, but 3 is also necessary. Also, note that this feature is considered extremely experimental at this point (1/10 stability) and not recommended for production, but I will still probably use it.

Here's the Node.js 10 ESM documentation.