Streamlining Development with Docker: A Complete Workflow

Docker has revolutionized how we develop, test, and deploy applications. This guide shows you how to create an efficient development workflow using Docker containers.

Why Docker for Development?

Docker solves the "it works on my machine" problem by ensuring consistent environments across development, testing, and production.

Benefits:

• Consistency: Same environment everywhere
• Isolation: No dependency conflicts
• Portability: Works on any Docker-enabled system
• Scalability: Easy to scale services

Setting Up Your Development Environment

Basic Dockerfile

FROM node:18-alpine

WORKDIR /app

COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --only=production

COPY . .

EXPOSE 3000

CMD ["npm", "start"]

Docker Compose for Multi-Service Apps

version: '3.8'

services:
  app:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    volumes:
      - .:/app
      - /app/node_modules
    depends_on:
      - database

  database:
    image: postgres:15
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: myapp
      POSTGRES_USER: user
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: password
    ports:
      - "5432:5432"
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

volumes:
  postgres_data:

Development Best Practices

Multi-Stage Builds

Optimize your images with multi-stage builds:

# Build stage
FROM node:18-alpine AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
RUN npm run build

# Production stage
FROM node:18-alpine AS production
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --only=production
COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist
CMD ["npm", "start"]

Development vs Production Configs

Use different Docker Compose files:

# docker-compose.dev.yml
version: '3.8'
services:
  app:
    build:
      context: .
      target: development
    volumes:
      - .:/app
      - /app/node_modules
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=development

Docker Commands Cheat Sheet

Essential commands for daily development:

# Build and run
docker-compose up --build

# Run in background
docker-compose up -d

# View logs
docker-compose logs -f app

# Execute commands in container
docker-compose exec app npm install

# Stop all services
docker-compose down

# Clean up everything
docker system prune -a

Debugging in Docker

Debugging Node.js Applications

# Add debugging support
FROM node:18-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
EXPOSE 3000 9229
CMD ["node", "--inspect=0.0.0.0:9229", "index.js"]

Production Deployment

Health Checks

Add health checks to your containers:

HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=3s --start-period=5s --retries=3 \
  CMD curl -f http://localhost:3000/health || exit 1

Security Best Practices

1. Use non-root users
2. Scan images for vulnerabilities
3. Keep base images updated
4. Use secrets management

Conclusion

Docker transforms development workflows by providing consistency, isolation, and portability. Start with simple containers and gradually adopt more advanced patterns as your needs grow.

The investment in learning Docker pays dividends in reduced debugging time, easier onboarding, and reliable deployments.