Webpack WARNING in ./node_modules/express/lib/view.js Critical dependency: the request of a dependency is an expression

Question

I'm working on my first full stack app (it's a simple note app) and I'm getting this warning when I bundle webpack:

WARNING in ./node_modules/express/lib/view.js 81:13-25 Critical dependency: the request of a dependency is an expression @ ./node_modules/express/lib/view.js @ ./node_modules/express/lib/application.js @ ./node_modules/express/lib/express.js @ ./node_modules/express/index.js @ ./routes/server.js

Here is my webpack.config.js file:

const webpack = require('webpack');

const path = require('path');

const nodeExternals = require('webpack-node-externals');

const config = {

  entry: {

      app: './routes/server.js'

  },

  output: {

    path: __dirname + "/public",

    filename: 'build/bundle.js'

  },

  module : {

    rules : [

      {

        test : /\.jsx?/,

        loader : 'babel-loader',

        exclude: /node_modules/,

        query: {

            "presets" : ["es2015", "react"]

          }

      }

    ]

  },

  target: 'node',

  externals: [nodeExternals({
    whitelist: ['express', 'mongodb', 'body-parser', 'react', 'react-dom', 'random-color']
  })]

};

module.exports = config;

Here's my package.json file:

{
  "name": "quick-notes-app",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "my first full-stack javascript app",
  "main": "./routes/server.js",
  "scripts": {
    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1",
    "start": "nodemon --exec babel-node ./routes/server.js --ignore public/",
    "dev": "webpack -wd",
    "lint": "eslint ./"
  },
  "repository": {
    "type": "git",
    "url": "git+https://github.com/CandiW/quick-notes-app.git"
  },
  "author": "CandiW",
  "license": "ISC",
  "bugs": {
    "url": "https://github.com/CandiW/quick-notes-app/issues"
  },
  "homepage": "https://github.com/CandiW/quick-notes-app#readme",
  "dependencies": {
    "body-parser": "^1.18.2",
    "express": "^4.16.3",
    "mongodb": "^2.2.35",
    "randomcolor": "^0.5.3",
    "react": "^16.3.2",
    "react-dom": "^16.3.2"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "babel-cli": "^6.26.0",
    "babel-core": "^6.26.3",
    "babel-eslint": "^8.2.3",
    "babel-loader": "^7.1.4",
    "babel-preset-es2015": "^6.24.1",
    "babel-preset-react": "^6.24.1",
    "eslint": "^4.19.1",
    "eslint-plugin-react": "^7.7.0",
    "nodemon": "^1.17.3",
    "webpack": "^3.11.0",
    "webpack-node-externals": "^1.7.2"
  }
}

I installed webpack-node-externals as I had been getting several errors and warnings from webpack. I determined at that point that webpack was not ignoring the node_modules although I have node_modules in exclude .

I'm unsure what I'm doing wrong or if I am doing anything wrong?? If anyone has any ideas on how to fix, please help! You can also find my github repo for this project here: Quick-Notes-App

Answer 1

Its worked for me. i changed code in webpack.server.config.js yours may be webpack.config.js or webpack.server.js ...etc

.... webpack config...

..from...

entry:{...},
output: {
  path: path.join(__dirname, '..', 'build'),
  publicPath: '/',
  libraryTarget: "commonjs2"
},
target: 'node',

to

entry:{...},
output: {
  path: path.join(__dirname, '..', 'build'),
  publicPath: '/',
  libraryTarget: "commonjs2"
},
target: 'node',

externals: {
  express: 'express',
},

just add below code ( same for other modules )

externals: {
  express: 'express',
},