In this chapter, we will take a look at the basics of Gulp and how it works. Understanding some of the basic principles and philosophies behind the tool, it's plugin system will assist you as you begin writing your own gulpfiles. We'll start by taking a look at the engine behind Gulp and then follow up by breaking down the inner workings of Gulp itself. By the end of this chapter, you will be ready to begin writing your own gulpfile.
Installing Node.js and npm
As you learned in the introduction, Node.js and npm are the engines that work behind the scenes that allow us to operate Gulp and keep track of any plugins we decide to use.
Downloading and installing Node.js
For Mac and Windows, the installation is quite simple. All you need to do is navigate over to http://nodejs.org and click on the big green install button. Once the installer has finished downloading, run the...