DevOps is about flow: getting code from laptop to production reliably. Docker plus CI/CD gives you repeatability, speed, and confidence.
Key concepts
- Immutable images vs. mutable servers
- Multi‑stage Docker builds reduce image size and attack surface
- CI pipelines run tests, lint, security scans, and build artifacts
- CD pipelines deploy to environments with approvals and rollbacks
Starter pipeline checklist
- Dockerfile with production base image and non‑root user
- GitHub Actions or Jenkins pipeline with parallel tests
- Image tags: branch, short SHA, and semver releases
- Environment configs via secrets and templates, not hard‑coded
Small wins compound: start with one service, then generalize the pattern to the rest of your stack.