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The Evolution of Containerization Competency
I was on a bus, years ago, back when I lived in good ole’ “Silicon Valley” (rather, slightly north of it) when a stranger sat down next to me, saw that I was writing code (that’s what you do on Silicon Valley buses) and asked, emphatically, “Have you heard of Docker?” This was probably a year or two before “Docker” was on every billboard in a 20 mile radius around the Bay Area, so no, I hadn’t heard of it.
Of course, a mere twelve months later, I was told we needed “Docker experts” at [AAA GAME STUDIO YOU’VE HEARD OF] to help us deploy and scale and solve all our other problems. Get out the incense, it’s time to kneel and pay homage to Docker! We weren’t even clear on what problems Docker actually solved, we just knew we needed it. This is how Silicon Valley Tech circles work by the way: Silicon Valley is pure tech-Id.
If you’ve been around the block, you may recall that time in history. In those days, “Docker experts” were difficult to find and crazy-expensive. We were looking all over the world and we were paying through the nose.
My present self sits here, writing about itself in third-person-present, shaking its still-an-idiot-head at past-idiot-me.
Docker is not for experts
This is all sorta comical because today Docker is not for experts. In fact, at this point, I believe Docker is mostly hated by experts due to licensing issues and its monolithic nature. We generally don’t actually use containerd in production, anymore. Containerization and Dockerfiles, specifically, largely remain; however, so for the purposes of simplification (and SEO), I’m going to be talking about “Docker” a bit like talking about “Kleenexes” instead of “tissues”. Although in this humble programmer’s opinion, brand name Kleenexes (especially the ones saturated with lotion) are still a cut above any other brand.
Don’t be offended, the Docker brand name has simply become habit.
Docker is now an essential development tool and experience with the whale is something that has come to be expected. That is, it no longer qualifies as something…
