Gulp is a popular open-source JavaScript toolkit and task runner that helps developers automate and enhance their workflow. By using Gulp, developers can automate common tasks such as minification, compilation, unit testing, linting, and much more. Gulp utilizes a code-over-configuration approach, leveraging Node.js streams to run tasks efficiently and quickly, which minimizes the amount of I/O operations and speeds up the build process. Gulp's ecosystem is rich with plugins that can be integrated to perform almost any task you can think of, promoting development best practices and helping to keep the process smooth and efficient.