Docker in Practice

Docker in Practice is a hands-on guide for developers, DevOps beginners, cloud engineers, students, and career changers who want to build real Docker skills without getting lost in unnecessary theory.This book takes you from the basics of images and containers through practical Dockerfiles, multi-stage builds, environment variables, volumes, networking, health checks, resource limits, logs, Docker Compose, debugging, registries, and CI/CD.You will learn how to:Build and run Docker images with confidenceWrite practical Dockerfiles for real applicationsReduce image size with multi-stage buildsManage persistent data with volumesConnect services with Docker networksConfigure health checks and resource limitsRead logs and diagnose broken containersRun multi-container applications with Docker ComposeTag and publish images to registriesBuild and test container images in CI/CD pipelinesApply an evidence-first troubleshooting method instead of guessingThe book is built around practical workflows, short labs, common failure scenarios, and verification steps. You will deliberately break containers, inspect the evidence, diagnose the cause, make one controlled change, and verify the result.By the end, you will containerise a complete multi-service application using Docker and Docker Compose, with persistent storage, health checks, environment configuration, logging, and troubleshooting built into the workflow.If you want a practical path from "e;I understand what Docker is"e; to "e;I can build, run, inspect, and debug containers confidently,"e; this book is designed to get you there.