is there a require for json in node.js

I would like to include a couple of JSON files in my JavaScript code that are in the same directory as my JavaScript source file.

If I wanted to include another JavaScript file I could simply use require. Now I'm using readFileSync and __dirname to get the JSON, which I think is an ugly way to do it.

Is there something similar for require that enables me to load a JSON file?

As of node v0.5.x yes you can require your JSON just as you would require a js file.

var someObject = require('./somefile.json')

In ES6:

import someObject from ('./somefile.json')

JSON files don’t require an explicit exports statement. You don't need to export to use it as Javascript files.

So, you can use just require for valid JSON document.

data.json

{
  "name": "Freddie Mercury"
}

main.js

var obj = require('data.json');

console.log(obj.name); 
//Freddie Mercury