What Is Docker?
By Karthick Selvam · Published
Docker is a platform for building, sharing and running applications in containers.
Key concepts
Images (templates built from a Dockerfile), containers (running instances), registries (where images are stored) and volumes (persistent data).
Benefits
Consistent environments from laptop to production, fast startup and efficient resource use compared with virtual machines.
Docker Compose
Defines multi-container applications in a YAML file for local development.
For data teams
Containers package pipelines, notebooks and tools reproducibly.
Frequently asked questions
Is a container a virtual machine?
No. Containers share the host kernel, making them lighter than VMs.
Related programmes
- DevOps, Docker & CI/CD for Data Platforms
- Docker & Kubernetes
- Site Reliability Engineering for Data Platforms
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DevOps & SRE guides
Docker vs Kubernetes: Understanding the Difference
Docker packages applications into containers; Kubernetes runs and manages many containers across machines.
What Is Kubernetes?
Kubernetes is an open-source system for automating deployment, scaling and management of containerised applications.
What Is CI/CD?
CI/CD automates building, testing and releasing software.