Node.JS had that ability for a while before it was incorporated in JavaScript with a feature called ‘modules.’ Eventually, they made it to the language itself and the browsers.

The open source JavaScript runtime Node.js has reached version 23. ... the "module-sync" export condition allows both require() and import to load the same native ES module.

Modules in Node.js. Node.js includes a collection of modules. Modules encapsulate a collection of related functions into one single unit. You can also export modules if you need to.

Modules compiled for one version of Node.js would then run on later versions with no need to recompile. The N-API effort also aims to ease support of multiple back-end JavaScript engines.