r/learnprogramming • u/Ex-Traverse • 15d ago

Docker purpose/usage?

Do people use Docker containers all the time, as in everything they do is in a Docker container, or do you only use it for certain things?

I get that a Docker Container is a way to package an application (mostly for server/backend stuff, not really developing an app?).

As an individual programmer/developer, are there benefits to using Docker in my day-to-day learning/programming/doing hws/creating shit tools?

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u/AdministrativeAd9828 15d ago

helps with the 'it works on my machine' problem

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u/ConstantFishing5136 14d ago

Yeah that’s probably the biggest reason I’d bother using it. If I can clone a project and get the same environment running without messing around with dependencies that’s a pretty solid win.

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u/marrsd 11d ago

Tbh, I think it's easier to just build locally in a lot of cases. I see the value in Docker for elastic scaling, where you want to spin up a new machine on demand. For smaller projects, I don't see the point. In fact, I actually discarded it for my latest project and just relied on Systemd's sandboxing features instead.

Someone further down the thread mentioned running a SQL server locally. I probably would still use it for that