Gear.js is a scriptable build system using simple tasks that act like a sequence of piped commands.
Features include:
To get the most out of Gear.js, you will want to install gear-lib which contains tasks for linting, minifying, and deploying JS/CSS assets.
$ npm install gear
$ npm install gear-lib
new Queue()
.load('foo.js')
.log('read foo.js')
.inspect()
.write('foobarbaz.js')
.run();
new Queue()
.load(['foo.js', {name: 'bar.js'}, 'baz.js'])
.log('read foo.js')
.inspect()
.write(['newfoo.js', 'newbar.js']) // Not writing 'baz.js'
.run();
new Queue()
.load('foo.js')
.log('Complex Task')
.tasks({
read: {task: 'load', options: ['foo.js', 'bar.js', 'baz.js']}
combine: {task: 'concat', requires: 'read'}
minify: {task: 'jsminify', requires: 'combine'}
print: {task: 'inspect', requires: ['read', 'combine', 'minify']} // Runs when read, combine, and minify complete
parallel: {task: 'log', options: "Hello gear world!"} // Run parallel to read
}).run();
Queue constructor.
Arguments
Example
new Queue()
.log('test')
.run();
Helper method to run the specified task. Preferred task execution style is to call the task directly i.e. inspect() instead of task('inspect').
Arguments
Example
new Queue()
.task('log', 'Hello, world!')
.run();
Runs the queue.
Arguments
Example
new Queue()
.log('test')
.run();
Creates a new Registry instance. Registries contain available tasks.
Arguments
Example
new Registry();
Load tasks from NPM, directory, or file.
Arguments
Example
new Registry().load({dirname: 'foo'});
Loads blobs from different sources.
Arguments
Example
// source - Filename or object to load.
// source.name - Filename of resource.
.load('foo')
.load(['foo', 'baz'])
.load([{name: 'foo'}, {name: 'bar'}, {name: 'baz'}])
Arguments
Write the blob to disk.
Example
.write('foo')
.write({name: 'foo'})
Concatenates blobs.
Example
.concat()
Inspects blobs.
Example
.inspect()
Arguments
Log a message.
Example
.log('Finished')
Arguments
Execute tasks in parallel with optional dependencies. Data is joined on completion.
Example
// label - Task instance name.
// label.task - Task name.
// label.options - Task options.
// label.requires - List of labels that must be executed before this task runs.
.tasks({
label_1: {task: 'log', options: 'Hello, world!'}
label_2: {task: 'log', options: 'Hello, world 2!', requires: 'label_1'}
})
Install gear-lib which contains tasks such as:
$ npm install gear-lib
Writing a task is especially easy compared to other Node build systems. There is no need to use Gear.js internals within a task. Tasks operate on immutable blobs. Blobs have a body property. The task returns transformed data via its callback.
Arguments
Example
// example.js
// Example task creates new blob containing `string`
exports.example = function(string, blob, done) {
done(null, new blob.constructor(string)); // blob.constructor() is equivalent to Blob()
};
Running Example Task
new Queue({registry: new Registry({filename: 'example.js'})})
.example('EXAMPLE')
.run();
Gear.js takes inspiration from a few sources:
FAQs
Gear.js - Build System for Node.js and the Browser
We found that gear demonstrated a not healthy version release cadence and project activity because the last version was released a year ago. It has 1 open source maintainer collaborating on the project.
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