Configure Gulp 'watch' task for very basic server-restart (Node JS)

Question

I'm trying to get the Gulp 'watch' task to restart the server when I make a change to a controller file.. to pick up those changes w/out having to manually restart the server.

Can someone post a small example with instructions to run it correctly?

Answer 1

So there are a lot of great tutorials out there, but IMHO they seem to not break down the step-by-step details that a newbie to Gulp like myself is looking for. This post assumes the reader has a basic understanding of how to set up paths with node JS, and aims to address only those perceived gaps with existing Gulp reference out there.

Below is a complete gulpfile.js that handles

• server restart
• minification

How to Run the Gulp Tasks

A) Start the server with gulp.

$ gulp

or

$ gulp dev

Make some change to a file and see it restart

B) Run the minify task

$ gulp minify_js

In your node setup, look in the corresponding directory for the generated file bundle.js

gulpfile.js

'use strict';

var gulp = require('gulp'),
     jshint = require('gulp-jshint'),
     concat = require('gulp-concat'),
     uglify = require('gulp-uglify'),
     rename = require('gulp-rename'),
     nodemon = require('gulp-nodemon'),
     minifyCss = require('gulp-minify-css'),
     sourcemaps = require('gulp-sourcemaps'),
     plugins = require('gulp-load-plugins')();


gulp.task('dev', function () {
  return plugins.nodemon({
    watch: ['config','controllers', 'models', 'util', 'routes', 'server.js'],
    script: 'server.js'
  });
});

gulp.task('minify_js', function() {
      return gulp.src('public/js/*.js')
        .pipe(sourcemaps.init())
          .pipe(concat('bundle.js'))
          //only uglify if gulp is ran with '--type production'
          // .pipe(gutil.env.type === 'production' ? uglify() : gutil.noop()) 
          .pipe(uglify()) 
        .pipe(sourcemaps.write())
        .pipe(gulp.dest('public/js'));
    });

gulp.task('default', ['dev']);