I really wish ESM was easier to adopt. But we're halfway through 2025 and there are still compatibility issues with it. And it just gets even worse now that so many packages are going ESM only. You get stuck having to choose what to cut out. I write my code in TS using ESM syntax, but still compile down to CJS as the build target for my sanity.
In many ways, this debacle is reminiscent of the Python 2 to 3 cutover. I wish we had started with bidirectional import interop and dual module publications with graceful transitions instead of this cold turkey "new versions will only publish ESM" approach.
Bun proved both worlds can work together, the mess is all on the Node.js shoulder, and we, the devs, are blamed for not adopting
Can you elaborate on the compatibility issues you ran into, with ESM, please? Are they related to specific libs or use-cases?
The two I find most annoying
Hoisting/import order especially when trying to mock tests.
Whether or not to include extensions, and which extension to use, .js vs .ts.