Docker for Beginners: A Practical Guide

If you've been hearing about Docker everywhere but still feel confused, you are not alone. It can feel like complex magic, but at its core, it's a simple concept.s like "containers" and "images" can be confusing.

What is a Container?

Think of a container as a lightweight, standalone package of software that includes everything needed to run an application: code, runtime, system tools, system libraries, and settings.

Images vs Containers

• Image: The blueprint or template (like a class in programming).
• Container: The running instance of that image (like an object).

Basic Commands

# Run a container
docker run -d -p 80:80 nginx

# List running containers
docker ps

# Stop a container
docker stop <container_id>

Docker Compose

Docker Compose allows you to define and run multi-container Docker applications. You use a YAML file to configure your application's services.

version: '3'
services:
  web:
    image: nginx
    ports:
      - "80:80"

Start exploring Docker today to make your deployments consistent and reliable.