Sample script to restart node.js server when current directory is modified(recursively).

restart-on-modification.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash

PID=0
APP_FILE="./app.js"


function start_server {
    node $APP_FILE &
    PID=$!
}

function stop_server {
    kill -TERM $PID
}

function restart_server {
    stop_server && start_server
}


start_server
ls -laR . > /tmp/testdirb.$$
while true; do
    ls -laR . > /tmp/testdira.$$
    diff /tmp/testdira.$$ /tmp/testdirb.$$ || (echo "Restarting..." && restart_server)
    cp /tmp/testdira.$$ /tmp/testdirb.$$
    sleep 1
done