Docker Best Practices: Building Efficient Images
Building efficient Docker images requires following best practices. Here’s how. 1. Use Multi-Stage Builds # Build stage FROM node:18 AS builder WORKDIR /app COPY package*.json ./ RUN npm ci COPY . . RUN npm run build # Production stage FROM node:18-alpine WORKDIR /app COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist COPY --from=builder /app/node_modules ./node_modules CMD ["node", "dist/index.js"] 2. Layer Caching # Bad: Changes invalidate cache COPY . . RUN npm install # Good: Dependencies cached COPY package*.json ./ RUN npm install COPY . . 3. Use .dockerignore node_modules .git .env dist *.log 4. Minimize Layers # Bad: Multiple layers RUN apt-get update RUN apt-get install -y python RUN apt-get install -y git # Good: Single layer RUN apt-get update && \ apt-get install -y python git && \ rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* 5. Use Specific Tags # Bad: Latest tag FROM node:latest # Good: Specific version FROM node:18.17.0-alpine Best Practices Multi-stage builds Optimize layer order Use .dockerignore Minimize image size Security scanning Conclusion Build efficient Docker images! 🐳