Loading jQuery with plugins in React component and scrolling through a list

I've tested this issue on every search engine and IRC room I could think of, and also tried to figure out what's going on with the module loading code in jQuery and the plugin I want to use (DataTables). There are several links here and here that explain how this is supposed to work, but there are no examples and I cannot get it.

Here's the code on the top / bottom of the jQuery-DataTables plugin:

(/** @lends <global> */function( window, document, undefined ) {

(function( factory ) {
    "use strict";

    if ( typeof define === 'function' && define.amd ) {
        // Define as an AMD module if possible
        define( 'datatables', ['jquery'], factory );
    }
    else if ( typeof exports === 'object' ) {
        // Node/CommonJS
        module.exports = factory( require( 'jquery' ) );
    }
    else if ( jQuery && !jQuery.fn.dataTable ) {
        // Define using browser globals otherwise
        // Prevent multiple instantiations if the script is loaded twice
        factory( jQuery );
    }
}
(/** @lends <global> */function( $ ) {

    // plugin code...

    return $.fn.dataTable;
}));

}(window, document));

      

        
        
        
      

    

And in my React component:

var React = require('react');
var $ = require('jquery');
var dataTable = require('datatables');
var Table = React.createClass({
  componentDidMount () {
    var node = React.findDOMNode(this);
    var table = $(node).DataTable({
      //options
    });
    console.log(table); // to see what the table is
  },
  render () {
    return (
      <div>
        <table className="table">
        </table>
      </div>
    );
  }
});
module.exports = Table;

      

        
        
        
      

    

I also tried this in a different way:

var table = $.fn.dataTable.Api(node)

      

        
        
        
      

    

which doesn't work either. The first way gets me Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property 'nTable' of null

, and the second just gets me undefined

.

There are also a bunch of SO questions about similar situations (not enough reputation to post more links, sorry), but no one has answered yet with a working example. Can anyone explain what the module loader code does so that we can figure out how to get this working, or better yet, a working example?

Thank!