Docker for beginners

Introduction

In today’s world of software development, applications need to run consistently across laptops, servers, and the cloud. That’s where Docker comes in. It makes building, testing, and deploying applications simpler by packaging everything into containers that "just work" everywhere.

What is Docker?

Docker is a platform that lets you package applications into lightweight, portable containers. These containers include everything your app needs, like code, libraries, and dependencies, so it runs the same everywhere.

Why Containers?

Unlike virtual machines, containers share the host’s operating system, making them much faster and more resource-efficient. This means you can run many containers on a single machine without heavy overhead.

Images and Containers

• -> Images are blueprints (read-only templates).
• -> Containers are running instances of those images.
  Think of images as recipes and containers as the actual dish.

Basic Commands

Some essentials to get started:

     
        docker pull nginx      # download an image
        docker run nginx       # run a container
        docker ps              # list running containers
        docker stop <id>       # stop a container
  

Use Cases

• -> Simplifying local development
• -> Running microservices
• -> Testing in isolated environments
• -> Shipping apps consistently across machines
• -> Powering CI/CD pipelines