hypothetical/gulpfile.js

// include packages
var gulp = require("gulp"),
    gUtil = require("gulp-util"),
    gLess = require("gulp-less"),
    gConcat = require("gulp-concat"),
    gPlumber = require("gulp-plumber"),
    gUglify = require("gulp-uglify"),
    gModernizr = require("gulp-modernizr"),
    lessGlob = require("less-plugin-glob"),
    lessAutoPrefix = require("less-plugin-autoprefix"),
    lessCleanCSS = require("less-plugin-clean-css");

// determine if gulp has been run with --production
var prod = gUtil.env.production;

// initialize plugins
var autoprefix = new lessAutoPrefix({ remove: false, cascade: false, browsers: [ "last 2 versions" ] }),
    cleancss = new lessCleanCSS({ advanced: true });

// declare less plugins and modernizr tests
var lessPlugins = prod ? [ lessGlob, autoprefix, cleancss ] : [ lessGlob, autoprefix ],
    modernizrTests = [];

// javascript files for the public site
var jsPublic = [
    "resources/assets/js/site-vars.js",
    "resources/assets/js/contact.js",
    "resources/assets/js/subscription.js",
    "resources/assets/js/app.js"
];

// javascript libraries for the public site
var jsPublicLibs = [
    "bower_components/jquery/dist/jquery.min.js",
    "bower_components/bootstrap/dist/js/bootstrap.min.js",
    "bower_components/jQuery.stickyFooter/assets/js/jquery.stickyfooter.js"
];

// javascript files for the dashboard
var jsDashboard = [
    "resources/assets/js/dashboard.js"
];

// javascript libraries for the dashboard
var jsDashboardLibs = [
    "bower_components/jquery/dist/jquery.min.js",
    "bower_components/bootstrap/dist/js/bootstrap.min.js",
    "bower_components/Sortable/Sortable.js",
    "bower_components/datetimepicker/build/jquery.datetimepicker.full.min.js",
    "bower_components/simplemde/dist/simplemde.min.js"
];

// paths to folders containing fonts that should be copied to public/fonts/
var fontPaths = [
    "resources/assets/fonts/**",
    "bower_components/bootstrap/dist/fonts/**",
    "bower_components/font-awesome/fonts/**"
];

// function to handle gulp-plumber errors
function plumberError(err) {
    console.log(err);
    this.emit("end");
}

// function to handle the processing of less files
function processLess(filename) {
    return gulp.src("resources/assets/less/" + filename + ".less")
        .pipe(gPlumber(plumberError))
        .pipe(gLess({ plugins: lessPlugins, paths: "bower_components/" }))
        .pipe(gConcat(filename + ".css"))
        .pipe(gulp.dest("public/css/"));
}

// function to handle the processing of javascript files
function processJavaScript(ouputFilename, inputFiles) {
    var javascript = gulp.src(inputFiles)
        .pipe(gPlumber(plumberError))
        .pipe(gConcat(ouputFilename + ".js"));

    // minify if running gulp with --production
    if (prod) { javascript.pipe(gUglify()); }
    return javascript.pipe(gulp.dest("public/js/"));
}

// gulp task for public styles
gulp.task("less-public", function() {
    return processLess("app");
});

// gulp task for dashboard styles
gulp.task("less-dashboard", function() {
    return processLess("dashboard");
});

// gulp task for public javascript
gulp.task("js-public", function() {
    return processJavaScript("app", jsPublic);
});

// gulp task for public javascript libraries
gulp.task("js-public-libs", function() {
    return processJavaScript("lib", jsPublicLibs);
});

// gulp task for dashboard javascript
gulp.task("js-dashboard", function() {
    return processJavaScript("dashboard", jsDashboard);
});

// gulp task for dashboard javascript libraries
gulp.task("js-dashboard-libs", function() {
    return processJavaScript("lib-dashboard", jsDashboardLibs);
});

// gulp task for modernizr
gulp.task("modernizr", function() {
    var modernizr = gulp.src([ "public/js/lib.js", "public/js/app.js", "public/css/app.css" ])
        .pipe(gModernizr({ tests: modernizrTests, crawl: false }))
        .pipe(gPlumber(plumberError))
        .pipe(gConcat("modernizr.js"));

    // minify if running gulp with --production
    if (prod) { modernizr.pipe(gUglify()); }
    return modernizr.pipe(gulp.dest("public/js/"));
});

// gulp task to copy fonts
gulp.task("fonts", function() {
    return gulp.src(fontPaths)
        .pipe(gPlumber(plumberError))
        .pipe(gulp.dest("public/fonts/"));
});

// gulp watch task
gulp.task("watch", function() {
    var gLiveReload = require("gulp-livereload");

    var liveReloadUpdate = function(wait) {
        setTimeout(function() {
            gLiveReload.changed(".");
        }, wait || 1);
    };

    gLiveReload.listen();
    gulp.watch(jsPublic, [ "js-public" ]).on("change", liveReloadUpdate);
    gulp.watch(jsDashboard, [ "js-dashboard" ]).on("change", liveReloadUpdate);
    gulp.watch([ "app/**/*.php", "resources/views/**/*.blade.php" ]).on("change", liveReloadUpdate);

    gulp.watch("resources/assets/less/**/*.less", [ "less-public", "less-dashboard" ]).on("change", function() {
        liveReloadUpdate(1000);
    });
});

// gulp default task
gulp.task("default", [
    "less-public",
    "less-dashboard",
    "js-public",
    "js-public-libs",
    "js-dashboard",
    "js-dashboard-libs",
    "fonts"
]);