Debugging Module Import Errors in React TypeScript Application

Case Study: Debugging Module Import Errors in React TypeScript Application

The Challenge: While building a Bio Health Data Explorer application, I encountered persistent TypeScript errors preventing the app from compiling. The application couldn't locate critical modules for API calls and data visualization components, despite the files existing in the correct locations.

The Problem: Two issues were causing the build failures:

Incorrect relative import paths - The import statements were traversing the folder structure incorrectly, looking for modules in the wrong directory Folder naming with spaces - The project root directory name contained spaces, which can cause subtle issues with build tools and terminal commands

The Solution: I corrected the import paths to properly reference modules within the project structure, changing from ../api/usdaApi to ./api/usdaApi to match the actual folder hierarchy. I also renamed the project folder to remove spaces (from "Bio Health Data Explorer" to "BioHealth-DataExplorer"), eliminating potential tooling conflicts and improving cross-platform compatibility.

The Result: The application compiled successfully, all modules resolved correctly, and the build process became more stable and reliable across different development environments.

Key Takeaways: Precise relative imports are critical in TypeScript projects Folder naming conventions matter for build tool compatibility Systematic debugging of path resolution saves hours of troubleshooting Best practices prevent subtle bugs that can derail development