Gulp is a tool that is part of software development, especially related to the front-end. Its main objective is to automate slow and repetitive workflows, facilitating and accelerating the programmer’s daily workload.
But ultimately, what is Gulp, what is it for, what are its advantages, and how to use it in practice? We’ll address all of these questions in this article.
Check it out!
What is Gulp and what is it used for?
It’s a “Task Runner,” that is, a tool for automating tasks. It’s essential for those boring, repetitive processes that waste programmers’ time, even more so if they have to do everything manually.
Some examples of tasks that brother cell phone list can be automated using Gulp are:
- Concatenation and file debunking;
- Preprocessing style files;
- Unit tests;
- Image optimization.
How do you use Gulp?
For starters, Gulp uses Node.JS, which is a JavaScript interpreter widely used on the back-end, although it is also useful on the front-end.
So, to use Gulp in your project, you will need to have Node.JS working properly in your development environment.
You’ll also use the Node Package Manager, also known as NPM. This allows you to install Gulp-Cli , which is Gulp’s command-line interface; that is, the command-line interface for interacting with the tool.
However, NPM isn’t just for that. You can also use it to install Gulp in each of your projects, as well as the plugins you’ll use within them.
Gulp plugins are essential to the tool because they’re what allow it to do its job. Currently, there are over 3,500 plugins available.
But why all this?
According to the Gulp documentation, plugins should be simple and perform a single task. In other words, they should offer how to add a chat widget to a website?something very specific, so it’s essential to use a variety of plugins in your project.
Check out 3 examples of essential plugins:
- Gulp-Uglify, which is used to minify files using UglifyJS;
- Gulp-Concat, which concatenates all your JS files, for example, into one;
- Gulp-Imagemin, an image optimizer for PNG, JPEG, GIF, and even SVG.
What is GulpFile.JS?
Once you have installed Gulp in your project, you will find GulpFile.JS in the root directory.
This file contains the tasks you want Gulp to automate. Contrary to what you might imagine, the code is very easy to understand, especially for those already familiar with Node.JS.
There are 5 functions you need to know to work with Gulp. They are:
- Gulp.task (name, fn), which will register the function with the name, as well as allow you to specify a dependency if any tasks need to be executed first;
- Gulp.run (tasks…), which runs all tasks with maximum concurrency;
- Gulp.watch (glob, fn), which watches the files you have indicated and, when a change is made, re-executes the function;
- Gulp.src (glob), which returns the fax list readable stream freed for reading. It’s similar to the one responsible for loading the files;
- Gulp.dest (folder), which returns the writable stream or the stream released for writing. This is the destination folder where the files will be saved.
Are there other tools that do the same job as Gulp?
Gulp wasn’t the first task automator, nor will it be the last. It replaced the famous Grunt , promising to be easier and faster to use, which it delivered.
Gulp is faster because it uses Node.JS streams to write files directly to disk, without using the temporary files that Grunt uses.
In addition, Gulp has other differentials, such as flexibility, efficiency and precision.
However, like everything in front-end development, Gulp isn’t universally accepted. Grunt is still widely used, although it has lost significant market share to Gulp.
Another player that’s gaining attention is Webpack . It’s well-known in the programming world and is gaining new fans every day.
However, it’s not really a Task Runner, although it does some of the same things Gulp does. In this case, it’s a static module wrapper for JavaScript applications, i.e., a Bundle.
This means that Webpack is more than just a “Task Runner.” It can replace Gulp, as well as work alongside it, offering other features.
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