no-commonjs-return.md

Disallow use of return statement in a module definition when using Simplified CommonJS Wrapper (no-commonjs-return)

When using the Simplified CommonJS Wrapper, module definition functions may export a value in one of three ways; by assigning to module.exports, adding a property to the exports object, or by directly returning a value. Exporting a value via return is typical of AMD modules, but not CommonJS modules. If you're using the Simplified CommonJS Wrapper, you may wish to enable this rule.

Note that this rule is only in affect when using the Simplified CommonJS Wrapper form of define. It will not flag return statements in AMD definitions or simple function definitions.

Rule Details

This rule aims to prevent exporting module values with return.

The following patterns are considered warnings:

define(function (require) {
    var foo = require('path/to/foo'),
        bar = require('path/to/bar');

    return function () { /* ... */ };
});

The following patterns are not warnings:

define(function (require, exports) {
    var foo = require('path/to/foo'),
        bar = require('path/to/bar');

    exports.doSomething = function () { /* ... */ };
});

define(function (require, exports, module) {
    var foo = require('path/to/foo'),
        bar = require('path/to/bar');

    module.exports = {
        doSomething: function () { /* ... */ };
    }
});

When Not To Use It

If you want to allow exporting a module value using the return statement, then it is safe to disable this rule.

Further Reading

• Define a Module with Simplified CommonJS Wrapper