Application development with Docker

Modern web development involves a deluge of files, systems, and components:

• HTML content and templates
• CSS stylesheets and preprocessors such as Sass
• client-side JavaScript including frameworks such as React, Vue.js, and Svelte
• web servers such as NGINX or Apache
• server-side runtimes and frameworks including Node.js, PHP, Python, Ruby, .NET etc.
• databases such as MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server, or MongoDB
• and much more!

Managing this stack can be a challenge; developers with slightly different versions of the environment may not be able to run the same code. Virtual machines can help, but they quickly become impractical:

• VM disk images are large and difficult to copy
• an individual VM could be updated automatically or by a single developer so it’s out of sync with others
• a VM requires considerable computing resources

Docker solves all these problems and more. Rather than installing dependencies on your PC, you run them in lightweight isolated VM-like environments known as containers. In a single command, you can download, configure, and run whatever combination of services or platforms you require.

In Chapter 6 of Docker for Web Developers, you’ll be creating a Node.js “Hello World” application which is built into a Docker image then run as a container. You'll learn how to:

1. Build your own production-level Docker image with a Dockerfile.
2. Launch a container from that image in both production and development environments.
3. Use Docker Compose for easier development.
4. Auto-restart a Node.js application when mounted files change.
5. Debug an application running in a container.

Start your subscription today and you'll get access to this book, plus 300+ other web design and development books in SitePoint Premium!

New subscribers can currently get 60% off for the first three months. That’s $3 a month to access all of our tech books and courses — grab the deal here.

Until next time,
James at SitePoint