randomly and slow require() calls on startup

[elijahiuu]

I run gulp on the same osx laptop and get considerably different startup performance from run to run. It happens in batches. 1 hour everything is super fast, another hour everything is 10x slower. And only on the require() step.

Here are two runs of the same gulp process:

gulp -T --require time-require --verbose --sorted

Start time: (2015-06-04 14:04:26 UTC) [treshold=0%,sorted]
  # [order]  module                                                                       time  %
   1 [4297]  /Users/xxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/gulpfile.js (gulpfile.js)        1m 8.7s  ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 100%
   2 [1734]  /Users/xxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx...rify.js (gulp/tasks/browserify.js)    11.6s  ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 17%
   3  [817]  /Users/xxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx...ync.js (gulp/tasks/browserSync.js)    10.6s  ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 15%
   4 [2764]  /Users/xxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx...sks/karma.js (gulp/tasks/karma.js)     9.7s  ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 14%
   5 [2763]  karma (node_modules/karma/lib/index.js)                                      9.7s  ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 14%
   6 [2756]  ./server (node_modules/karma/lib/server.js)                                  9.6s  ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 14%
   7 [4182]  /Users/xxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx...s/styles.js (gulp/tasks/styles.js)     9.1s  ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 13%

    # [order]  module                                                                     time  %
   1 [4297]  /Users/xxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/gulpfile.js (gulpfile.js)         2.3s  ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 97%
   2 [1734]  /Users/xxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx...rify.js (gulp/tasks/browserify.js)  563ms  ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 24%
   3  [817]  /Users/xxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx...ync.js (gulp/tasks/browserSync.js)  510ms  ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 21%
   4  [524]  browser-sync (node_modules/browser-sync/index.js)                         348ms  ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 15%
   5  [520]  ./lib/browser-sync (node_modules/browser-sync/lib/browser-sync.js)        345ms  ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 14%
   6 [2764]  /Users/xxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx...sks/karma.js (gulp/tasks/karma.js)  290ms  ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 12%
   7 [2763]  karma (node_modules/karma/lib/index.js)                                   289ms  ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 12%

[jasnell]

@elijahwww ... in order to diagnose this properly, it would be helpful to have a simple test case that reliably reproduces the problem. Otherwise, it's going to be difficult to say whether or not it's a problem in node specifically vs. an issue in gulp or the modules being loaded via the require.

[elijahiuu]

I will work on getting that procured.