Technology
Docker
Docker is how we stop the phrase it works on my machine. We use it when the product has more than a static host, and we keep the file in the repo.
What it is
Docker is the company and the tooling that made containers ordinary: an image, a file that says how to build it, a runtime that runs the same thing on a laptop and in the cloud. PayPal, Adobe, and The New York Times all moved estates onto containers. Kubernetes then orchestrated what Docker packaged.
A Dockerfile is a recipe. Compose is how a developer runs the database next to the app. The registry is where images live. Docker Desktop is how most designers-turned-engineers first meet the idea. The concept is bigger than the company. The workflow still starts with Dockerfiles.
What it does
Teams use Docker so the app, the database, and the worker start the same way everywhere. CI builds an image. Production runs that image. Onboarding is 'install Docker', not 'install our folklore'.
We keep Dockerfiles in the repo. Local and preview match closely enough. We do not invent a snowflake machine as the only place the build works.
Why we use it
The same app on a laptop and on the server.
A new hire who ran the product on day one. A worker that used to be a mystery cron. A host change that did not become a rewrite. The container is the contract.
If compose needs a meeting, it is not a handover yet.
Built on it
PayPal
An early large Docker estate for payments services.
Adobe
Has run Creative Cloud services in containers.
The New York Times
Moved publishing infrastructure toward Docker and orchestration.
ADP
An enterprise Docker customer for HR systems.
AT&T
Has described Docker as part of a large-scale service platform.
Tell us what needs to ship.
You use a working prototype before the production build goes ahead.