📄️ Table of contents
Free discovery course on Docker and containers, in 7 pedagogical lessons. Understand what Docker is, the difference between an image and a container, between Docker and a virtual machine, the ecosystem (Docker Hub, Compose, Kubernetes) and real use cases.
📄️ 1 · The problem Docker solves
Before Docker, installing an application was a nightmare: diverging versions, missing dependencies, dev working but prod breaking. This lesson describes precisely the problem Docker came to solve in 2013.
📄️ 2 · What is Docker?
A rigorous definition of Docker: containerization platform, software engine, ecosystem and company. The shipping container analogy, the history from dotCloud and Solomon Hykes in 2013, the principle of Linux namespaces.
📄️ 3 · Image, container, Dockerfile
Understand Docker's three fundamental concepts: the Dockerfile (recipe), the image (cooked dish) and the container (served plate). Restaurant analogy, life cycle, concrete examples.
📄️ 4 · Docker vs virtual machine
Detailed comparison between Docker containers and virtual machines: architecture, weight, performance, isolation, security, use cases. Diagrams and a table to understand everything.
📄️ 5 · The Docker ecosystem
A complete panorama of the ecosystem around Docker: Docker Hub, Docker Compose, Docker Swarm, Kubernetes, alternatives (Podman, containerd, BuildKit) and the role of each. The 2026 landscape.
📄️ 6 · Real use cases
Where Docker is really used in 2026: reproducible local development environment, CI/CD pipelines, microservices architecture, machine learning, edge computing, when not to use it.
📄️ 7 · Recap and FAQ
Summary of the Docker discovery course, answers to the 14 most frequent beginner questions (Docker Desktop, volumes, security, alternatives) and the recommended next step.
📄️ 🏆 Quiz and attestation
Test your Docker knowledge with a free 5-question quiz, corrected and explained: image, container, Dockerfile, virtual machines, Compose.