Introduction

Chapter walkthrough #

This chapter introduces Docker and covers the following:

• After studying the chapter, the reader is able to run the examples provided in the following chapters in a Docker environment.

• Docker and microservices are nearly synonymous. This chapter explains why Docker fits so well with microservices.

• Docker facilitates software installation. Important for this is the Dockerfile, which describes the installation of the software in a simple way.

• Docker Machine and Docker Compose support Docker on server systems and complex software environments with Docker.

• The chapter lays the foundation for an understanding of technologies such as Kubernetes Cloud Foundry, which are based on Docker.

Licences and projects #

Docker is under the Apache 2.0 license. It is developed by the company Docker, Inc., among others.

Some core components, such as Moby, for example, are under an Open Source license and allow other developers to implement systems similar to Docker.

Docker is based on Linux containers, which isolate processes in Linux systems from each other. The Open Container Initiative ensures via standardization of the compatibility of the different container systems.