Introduction
Docker is an open-source application development framework that is useful for automating the deployment of applications as lightweight and portable, self-sufficient containers that can run on the cloud or any virtual premises.
Furthermore, the use of the Docker container allows developers to package applications alongside their dependencies for deploying them as a single unit. Thus, using Docker provides developers with a reliable and cost-effective approach to efficiently build, deploy, and scale applications into any environment.
Besides, Docker provides a standard way of running the code, and the containers comprise all the necessary components such as libraries, system tools, codes, and runtime, making deployment of applications faster.
These containers simplify distributed application delivery and are increasingly gaining popularity across organizations as the cloud environments have become an integral part of the operational process. The developers can create containers without Docker; however, the platform provides a safer approach for building, deploying, and managing containers.
Docker acts as the toolkit that allows developers complete control over the process from writing codes to running in the production environment with automation through a single API. The current market trends highlight that Docker has over 3 million applications placed in the containers, and over 37 billion containerized applications have been reported to have been downloaded.
In addition, Docker is by far the most sought-after skill in the industry, and aspirants and experienced professionals must upskill themselves with Docker skills to gain a competitive job role as a developer today.
Related reading: Top 10 Online Courses to Learn Node.Js
1. Building Containerized Applications on AWS – Coursera
Amazon AWS offers the course on Coursera. This is one of the most popular and industry-recognized Docker courses available on the platform. In this course, the learners will be introduced to container technologies and their implementation in modern applications. In addition, the learners will explore various AWS services that are used to manage the containers.
The learners will also understand the orchestration of containers which is one of the existing challenges, and cover the concepts on the scalability of containerized applications. There will be additional concepts on how to handle starting, stopping, and scaling all the containers.
Throughout the course, the industry experts will delve into various services and general container technologies alongside demonstrations and hands-on lab sessions to build the practical skills of deploying and managing containerized applications in a production environment.
The course curriculum includes:
Week 1
- Introduction
- Docker Basics
- Containers Basics
- Docker File and Semantics
- Docker Images, CLI, and Logging
- Amazon ECR
- Elastic Beanstalk
- Introduction to AWS Cloud9
- Lab Sessions
Week 2
- Microservices
- AWS Fargate
- Container Networking
- Persistent Storage
- Amazon Cloud Watch Insights
- Lab Sessions
Week 3
- Introduction to Orchestration
- Amazon ECS and its Components
- Demonstrations
- Lab Sessions
Week 4
- Introduction to Kubernetes
- Amazon EKS
- Demonstration
- Scaling with K8s
- Kubernetes Ecosystem
- AWS Fargate for Amazon EKS
- Lab Sessions
Week 5
- Service Discovery
- Envoy and AWS App Mesh
- Observability
- Demonstrations
- End Course Assessments
Instructor: Seph Robinson, Scott Malkie, Rick Hurst, Morgan Willis, and Alana Layton
Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Duration: 12 hours
User Review: 4.5/5
Price: Free Enrollment (Additional charges for certification may apply)
2. Introduction to Containers with Docker, Kubernetes, and OpenShift by IBM – Coursera
This course is offered on Coursera. The course familiarizes the learners with building applications with a cloud native approach and containerization tools and technologies. Moreover, the learners will explore the concepts of deploying the applications using public, private or the hybrid cloud at an unimaginable scale.
The course also delves into the concepts of containers and their difference from a virtual machine. Next, the learners will deep dive into the concepts of emerging ecosystems using technologies like Docker, Kubernetes, RedHat OpenShift, and Istio. Throughout the course, the learners will practice Docker skills with hands-on lab sessions.
The learners will begin from the fundamentals of Docker and move to advanced concepts, including orchestration and scaling with Kubernetes and learn to deploy the applications.
There are no technical prerequisites of the course other than the knowledge of computer basics and foundational concepts of cloud computing.
The course contents are:
- Understanding the Benefits of Containers, Docker, and the Command Line Interface
- Docker CLI Commands, Docker Files, Docker Image
- Understanding the Kubernetes Architecture
- Managing Applications with Kubernetes
- The Ecosystem
Instructor: Alex Parker and Upkar Lidder
Level: Beginner
Duration: 11 hours
User Review: 4.4/5
Price: Free Enrollment (Additional charges for certification may apply)
3. Securing the Docker Platform – Pluralsight
The course is available on Pluralsight. This course provides in-depth knowledge of the Docker platform and covers concepts on securely managing operations on this platform.
The learners will begin with the fundamental security aspects for the platform components and the measuring compliance as per the industry benchmark standard. Furthermore, the learners will discover the concepts on Docker daemon configurations and the best security practices. In addition, the learner will explore the concepts of flexible access control and authentication requirements.
Finally, the course explores the concepts of how to implement security controls to the Docker platform and the use of a self-hosted Docker registry and Swarm cluster. By the end of the course, the learners will gain in-depth knowledge about configurations, measures, and optimization of Docker platform security.
The course curriculum includes:
- Establishing a Baseline for Docker Platform Security
- Optimizing the Configuration of the Docker Host
- Configuring the Docker Daemon Security
- Enhancing Access Control to the Docker Platform
- Deploying a Secure Docker Registry
- Managing Security in a Docker Swarm Cluster
- Course Wrap Up
Instructor: Nigel Brown
Level: Beginner
Duration: 4 hours 6 minutes
User Review: 4.7/5
Price: 10-Day Trial (Charges applicable after trial period)
4. Docker Certified Associate Certification Training Course – Simplilearn
This course is offered on the Simplilearn platform. In this course, the learners will explore the concepts of Docker containers, Swarm Dockers, and the Docker environment in general.
The learners will also understand the role of Docker in the DevOps lifecycle. In addition, the learners will be provided with a hands-on session to understand the Docker commands and various exercises that cover the topics of creating images, containers, swarms, volumes, and networks.
There are additional concepts on Docker security client bundles and client-server authentication for gaining advanced knowledge of Docker. The learners are required to complete two end-course assessments for certification. Additionally, the course’s prerequisites include a solid understanding of Linux and hands-on experience of Linux.
The course contents are:
- Introduction
- Understanding Docker
- Docker CE on Linux Platform
- Docker Networking
- Docker Images
- Docker Storage and Volumes
- Docker Compose
- Orchestration Docker Swarm
- Universal Control Plane
- Docker Trusted Registry
- Security
- Docker Kubernetes Services
- DCA Test
Instructor: Industry Professionals
Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Duration: 30 hours
User Review: 4.6/5
Price: $283.7 (Approximately)
5. Cloud-Native Application Architecture Nanodegree Program – Udacity
This is a specialization course on Udacity. The learners will master the skills of becoming a successful cloud-native architect and have a solid understanding of Docker commands, virtual machines, and managing scalable applications in the production environment.
Additionally, the course introduces essential open source tools and projects such as ArgoCD, gRPC, and Grafana. The course prerequisites include understanding HTTP, Python, Git, Linux, and Linux command lines. In addition, the learners require some familiarity with web application development, Docker basics, and the CI/CD pipeline. The course curriculum includes:
Cloud-Native Fundamentals
The first module covers the topics on structures, packages, and releasing an application to the Kubernetes cluster. Furthermore, the learners will understand the uses of an automated CI/CD pipeline and best practices for developing an application and packaging with Docker. In addition, the learners will understand how to distribute using DockerHub.
At the end of this module, the learners will be comfortable with Kubernetes resources, deploying an application, using K3s to bootstrap, and functional Kubernetes.
Message Passing
In this module, the learners will cover the concepts of the microservice capabilities of a monolithic architecture. Besides, the learners will explore migration strategies and implementations, understanding the industry’s development and production systems and standard best practices.
Observability
This module covers the fundamentals of observability in distributed systems. The learners will learn how to collect system performance data using Prometheus, application tracing data, and visualization of the results. Additionally, the learners will cover topics on Kubernetes and standards for cloud-native applications.
Microservices Security
The learners will cover the topics of Docker and Kubernetes microservice architecture. Furthermore, the learners will learn about the STRIDE to threat model for microservice security and deep dive into the concepts of Docker and Kubernetes attacks. Furthermore, the learners will understand the uses of the Docker bench, Kube-bench, and the weaknesses. In addition, the learners will explore the concepts of software composition analysis and evaluating image layers and common application security vulnerabilities.
Finally, the learners will deploy runtime security to monitor the running microservices for security signals and understand how to respond to a security incident.
Capstone Project
Instructor: Katie Gamanji, Justin Lee, Nick Reva, and Jay Smith
Level: Intermediate
Duration: 4 Months
User Review: NA
Price: $1049.6 (Approximately)
6. Docker and Kubernetes: The Complete Guide – Udemy
This course is available on Udemy. In this course, the learners will cover the essentials about deploying a web application and explore the concepts of Docker and Kubernetes in the DevOps environment.
The course covers the concepts of Docker from scratch, including the absolute fundamentals and the core understanding of advanced Docker functionalities. The learners will cover Docker CLI commands and learn to build their custom images effectively. Additionally, the learners will cover the concepts on CI/CD pipelines and the various patterns, alongside implementing a complete CI/CD workflow using GitHub.
The learners will also explore Amazon Web Services and Travis CI to create a pipeline that automates the deployment of codes each time a new change is made to GitHub.
Finally, the learners will explore the concepts of multi-container deployment on AWS and utilizing Node, React, and Postgres for coding purposes and evaluating the containers’ performance in action. Besides, the learners will also cover the concepts on Kubernetes for managing complex applications with various containers running in the environment.
The course curriculum includes:
- Dive into Docker
- Manipulating Containers with the Docker Client
- Doing Real Projects with Docker
- Building Custom Images through Docker Server
- Docker Compose with Multiple Local Containers
- Creating a Production-Grade Workflow
- Continuous Integration and Deployment with AWS
- Building a Multi-Container Application
- Dockerizing Multiple Services
- Continuous Integration Workflow for Multiple Images
- Multi-Container Deployment to AWS
- Kubernetes
Instructor: Stephen Grider
Level: Beginner
Duration: 22 hours and 16 minutes
User Review: 4.7/5
Price: $6.14 (Charges may vary according to the region)
7. Docker Deep Dive – Pluralsight
The course is available on the Pluralsight platform. This course offers foundations to advanced concepts for the learners. The learners will understand the technologies associated with Docker and explore how they can be implemented on Linux and Windows. Moreover, the learners will discover the core concepts of Docker images and containers and learn to build, manage and work with them in a production environment.
In addition, the course provides advanced concepts on orchestration and the enterprise features that are available for modern Docker-based applications. The course also provides additional concepts and resources to help prepare for the Docker Certified Associate Exam.
The course contents are:
- Overview
- Installation
- Architecture and Theory
- Working with Docker Images
- Containerizing an Application
- Working with Containers
- Building a Secure Swarm Docker
- Container Networking
- Working with Volumes and Persistent Data
- Working with CLI
- Deploying in Production with Stacks and Services
- Enterprise Tooling
 Instructor: Nigel Poulton
Level: Intermediate
Duration: 4 hours and 35 minutes
User Review: 5/5
Price: Free Course (Additional charges may apply for certification)
8. Docker Mastery with Kubernetes and Swarm from a Docker Captain – Udemy
The course is available on Udemy. This course delves into the concepts of Docker and Kubernetes and their implementation in the DevOps environment. The learners will understand how to write codes on the machine, serve it in a container, and lockdown applications in a private network with necessary ports.
In addition, the course explores the topics of creating a 3-node Swarm cluster and the uses of Kubernetes. Furthermore, the learners will explore the concepts of virtual IP for built-in load balancing in the cluster and optimizing Docker files for faster building and deployment.
The learners will cover topics on building and publishing custom application images and understanding the differences between Kubernetes and Swarm. Furthermore, the learners will be undergoing hands-on sessions that will allow them to build their image registry, encrypt the environment, deploy containers, and much more.
The course contents are:
- Introduction to Docker
- Setting up Docker for OS
- Creating and Using Containers
- Container Images and Container Data Volumes
- Docker Compose and Swarm
- Using Swarm in the Workflow
- Swarm App Lifecycle
- Container Registries
- Docker in Production Docker Security
- DevOps and Docker Clips and Dockerfile
- Exploring Kubernetes
Instructor: Bret Fisher and Docker Captain Program
Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Duration: 19 hours and 36 minutes
User Review: 4.6/5
Price: $6.14 (Charges may vary according to the region)
9. DevOps Certification Training – Edureka
The course is available on the Edureka platform. In this course, the learners will be provided with in-depth knowledge of various DevOps tools such as Docker, Git, Jenkins, Kubernetes, Prometheus, and much more.
This course is an entirely hands-on course that emphasizes building the Docker skills and practicing them over various follow-along examples. The course also provides the best practices in continuous development, configuration management, and continuous integration.
Finally, the learners will also understand how to monitor the software throughout the lifecycle. The prerequisites of the course include the understanding of scripting language and Linux fundamentals.
The course contents are:
- Overview of DevOps
- Version Control with Git
- Continuous Integration and Configuration Management
- Containerization using Docker
- Orchestration using Kubernetes
- Monitoring using Prometheus and Grafana
- Provisioning
- DevOps on Cloud
- AWS EC2 and IAM
Instructor: Industry Professionals
Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Duration: 36 hours
User Review: 5/5
Price: $243 (Approximately)
10. Docker for the Absolute Beginner: Hands-On DevOps – Udemy
This course is available on Udemy. In this course, the learners will be introduced to the basics of Docker using demo and follow-along coding exercises. The learners will understand the Docker commands and learn how to develop the images using Dockerfiles. In addition, the learners will explore the concepts such as Docker compose. Furthermore, the learners will create Docker files for various use cases and the uses of Docker Swarm.
The course contents are:
- Introduction
- Docker Commands and Docker Run
- Docker Images and Docker Compose
- Docker Registry
- Docker Engine, Storage and Networking
- Docker on Mac and Windows
- Container Orchestration: Docker Swarm and Kubernetes
- Conclusion
Instructor: Mumshad Mannambeth and KodeKloud Training
Level: Beginner
Duration: 4 hours and 19 minutes
User Review: 4.7/5
Price: $6.14 (Charges may vary according to the region)
11. Docker and Kubernetes: The Practical Guide – Udemy
The course is offered on the Udemy platform. This course offers the most advanced topics on Docker and Kubernetes. The learners will understand how Docker simplifies the development and deployment process of complex software. In addition, the learners will create and manage containers and all the essentials for deployment. Furthermore, the learners will explore the concept of Kubernetes cluster, images, volume, and networking.
At the end of this course, the learners will gain mastery over the topics of:
- Docker and Docker containers
- Setting up Docker for Mac and Windows OS
- Core Concepts of Containers and Images
- Creating Custom Images and Running Containers Based on Such Images
- Core Commands of Docker
- Persisting with Data with Volumes
- Container Networking
- Single and Multiple Container Projects
- Deployment and Kubernetes
- Running Containers with Kubernetes
- Kubernetes Projects
- DNS Service Directory
- Deploying Kubernetes Project
- The course curriculum includes:
- Introduction
- Docker Images and Containers: The Core Building Blocks
- Managing Data and Working with Volumes
- Networking Container Communication
- Building Multi-Container Applications with Docker
- Docker Compose
- Working Utility Containers
- Developing Docker Containers
- Kubernetes: Diving into Core Concepts
- Summary
Instructor: Academind by Maximilian Schwarzmuller
Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Duration: 23 hours and 38 minutes
User Review: 4.8/5
Price: $6.14 (Charges may vary according to the region)
Conclusion
Docker has been the most preferred platform by Developers and was ranked #1 most wanted platform as per Stack Overflow. Docker has been widely used as it eliminates environment-specific issues, which reduces the developer’s workload. Additionally, Docker reduces the time for development and debugging and improves productivity in an organization.
The recent trends demonstrate that Docker will continue to have significantly high demand in the following years as it provides several advantages. Some of the advantages include return on investment and cost-saving. In addition, Docker ensures a significant reduction in infrastructure resources to run the applications, thereby saving on server cost and maintenance.
Moreover, Docker provides tremendous consistency across multiple developments or release cycles of the software and standardizes the environment. With Docker, the organizations are provided with repeatable development cycles and building testing within the production environment.
In addition, Docker is practical as it enables the creation of container images and uses them across multiple steps in the deployment process, which speeds up the production procedures.
Besides the rapid development process, Docker makes the maintenance simpler for developers as the time spent on setting up environments, debugging specific environment-related issues, and more portability of the codebase provides a reliable production infrastructure for an organization.
While developers gain from using Dockers, from a user perspective, Docker offers its configurations to be included in the codes and deploy them without any problem. As the organizations are mainly shifting towards cloud platforms, Docker provides several benefits as all major cloud computing platforms, including AWS, Google Compute Platform, Microsoft Azure, and more, are supported.Â
Docker containers run inside any cloud computing platform, including the possibility of being ported between environments. Lastly, Docker ensures that each container is allotted its resources and is isolated from other containers, and there are outstanding security features available for Docker containers. Due to isolation, no Docker container can view the processes inside another container.
With so many benefits, it is no wonder that Docker adoption has increased by about 30% in recent years, and more developers are continuously looking to opt for Dockers for development. Among the large companies, nearly all the tech giants have adopted Dockers, and multiple other industries such as ING, Paypal, Spotify have been using Dockers due to its advantages.
Such demand across industries has generated immense career opportunities for developers with Docker know-how, and it is among the most sought-after skill sets in the industry. Thus, the aspirants and developers looking to upskill themselves must opt for Docker as one of the primary skills, alongside the experience to climb the ladder of success as developers in the market today.
