关于使用'./dist'作为输出路径的根目录出现报错的问题

为什么使用'./dist'目录会出现下面的报错？

output: {

path: './dist',

filename: 'js/[name]-[hash].js'

// filename: 'bundle.js'

},

报错信息：configuration.output.path: The provided value "dist" is not an absolute path!

改为这样写却 不报错？

output: {

path: path.resolve(__dirname, 'dist'),

// path: './dist',

filename: 'js/[name]-[hash].js'

// filename: 'bundle.js'

},