I usually find this as the first line in node.js scripts/modules as well as phantomJS, casperJS etc. I'm curious, if this is a common pattern for server-side javascript (SSJS) (similar to #include in C/C++ or import in Java) or is it a a library like RequireJS or LabJS that is being called for this inclusion (neither of which I have gotten a chance to use in practice, as yet)?
e.g. var http = require('http') or var casper = require('casper').create()
I'm curious if this is a pattern that has become standardized for SSJS or does every library/tool call an existing function?
Please pardon the n00b dimension to the question but I would like to know the 'why' behind its omnipresence :)