typescript output order - gulp equivalent to tsc with tsconfig.json

Given a tsconfig file and using command-line tsc, everything is working as it should. However, using gulp-typescript with a tsconfig.json and outFile specified creates different output ordering - my problem is that I can't find a gulp way to generate the same javascript as tsc does.

Our build workflow is based on gulp; but tsc is the gold-standard, has a nice watch feature, and has broad tooling support (eg http://dev.ivogabe.com/using-vscode-with-gulp-typescript/). It would be great if I could make our gulp-based build work the same as tsc.

Example tsconfig.json:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "declaration": false,
    "preserveConstEnums": true,
    "outFile": "out/out.js",
    "sourceMap": true,
    "target": "es5",
    "noEmitOnError": true
  },
  "exclude": [
    "node_modules",
    "out"
  ]
}

Example gulpfile.js:

"use strict";
var gulp = require('gulp');
var typescript = require('gulp-typescript');

var tsProject = typescript.createProject('tsconfig.json');

gulp.task('typescript:compile', function () {
    var tsResult = tsProject.src()
        .pipe(typescript(tsProject));

    return tsResult.js.pipe(gulp.dest('out'));
});
gulp.task('default', ['typescript:compile']);

Again, my problem is that tsc with the above tsconfig.json; and gulp with the above gulpfile.js and tsconfig.json (using gulp-typescript) produce different output ordering for a non-trivial directory of typescript files. Developers should be able to switch between the two build processes arbitrarily and remain confident that they didn't miss an output ordering bug.

I don't understand the difference between the output ordering rules used for tsc and gulp-typescript, so I haven't been able to create a simple repro case for this problem. But ideally gulp-typescript when using a tsconfig project would use the same ordering as tsc.

I can solve this by using a "child-process".exec to call tsc, but gulp-typescript has better gulp integration; I'm also open to using any other gulp plugins that call the typescript compiler directly (and use the tsconfig.json project file), but I haven't been able to find one.

Solution

my problem is that I can't find a gulp way to generate the same javascript as tsc does

TypeScript has an internal implementation of ordering that does it by:

Order of files passed in the command line. If you are tsconfig this is not relevant.
Order in which the files are detected. Since you are using tsconfig it will start at the first file and then order the others by references and import directives.

Note: This is not available to API consumers (like gulp). Also this can lead to issues even with just tsc : https://github.com/TypeStrong/atom-typescript/blob/master/docs/out.md

So use external modules : https://basarat.gitbooks.io/typescript/content/docs/project/modules.html

And here is a quickstart : https://basarat.gitbooks.io/typescript/content/docs/quick/browser.html