suggestion: simplify internal module specifiers

[iuioiua]

The internal import map for this codebase is defined in tools/core_import_map.json. Currently, each import corresponds to an individual script. This means a new entry is needed for every new script, and when one entry is missing, VSCode IntelliSense doesn't work for symbols from that script.

I suggest replacing these single-script imports with directory imports and changing the prefix used in internal module specifiers. This change would automatically cover almost all internal imports with near-zero maintenance. @bartlomieju told me this would require considerable changes to this repo and deno_core code and, therefore, likely best done after Deno 2.

Please excuse me if I've overlooked some obvious drawbacks to this approach. I have little context on why internal module specifiers were done this way in the first place.

Currently

deno/tools/core_import_map.json

Lines 55 to 60 in 88e3f46

	"ext:deno_node/_utils.ts": "../ext/node/polyfills/_utils.ts",
	"ext:deno_node/_zlib_binding.mjs": "../ext/node/polyfills/_zlib_binding.mjs",
	"ext:deno_node/00_globals.js": "../ext/node/polyfills/00_globals.js",
	"node:module": "../ext/node/polyfills/01_require.js",
	"node:assert": "../ext/node/polyfills/assert.ts",
	"node:assert/strict": "../ext/node/polyfills/assert/strict.ts",

deno/ext/node/polyfills/_brotli.js

Lines 29 to 32 in 88e3f46

	import { zlib as constants } from "ext:deno_node/internal_binding/constants.ts";
	import { TextEncoder } from "ext:deno_web/08_text_encoding.js";
	import { Transform } from "node:stream";
	import { Buffer } from "node:buffer";

Suggestion

// tools/core_import_map.json
{
  "imports": {
    "ext/": "../ext/",
    "ext/node/": "../ext/node/polyfills",
    "ext/runtime/": "../runtime/js/",
    "node:assert": "../ext/node/polyfills/assert.ts",
    "node:assert/strict": "../ext/node/polyfills/assert/strict.ts"
    // ...
  }
}

// ext/node/polyfills/_brotli.js
// ...
import { zlib as constants } from "ext/node/internal_binding/constants.ts";
import { TextEncoder } from "ext/web/08_text_encoding.js";
import { Transform } from "node:stream";
import { Buffer } from "node:buffer";
// ...

[lucacasonato]

I don't think this would require deno_core changes if the only thing you want to change is the import map.

[iuioiua]

We'd have to change the import map as well as module specifiers in TS/JS files.

[lucacasonato]

Oh I see - we could just change the specifiers to ext:/... - deno_core could likely support that easially

[iuioiua]

I tried that, and IntelliSense didn't work (see here). Perhaps I'm missing something obvious, but I can't find documentation on directory-based imports with prefixes like ext:.

Ref #17188