Docker Inc. unveiled several innovative products at DockerCon, its user-oriented conference, which has finally made a comeback as a physical gathering. The tech giant introduced a novel remote build service, along with advanced debugging tools. Most significantly, Docker's software supply chain security service, Docker Scout, was announced as generally available.
The timing of the event comes at a pivotal moment in Docker’s trajectory. The company transitioned in 2019 to concentrate on its developer tools and community, even selling Docker Enterprise to Mirantis. During the pivot, Docker was reporting just shy of 12 million monthly active users, as stated by Docker CEO Scott Johnston. Presently, this statistic has increased to an approximated 20 million monthly active users. There are now over 79,000 businesses subscribing to at least one of Docker's premium plans.
The keynote by Johnston highlighted the pivotal theme of enhancing the experience of application developers; it emphasized every stage that is centered around a single developer and their coding and testing practices, typically done on a local machine. He stated, “We’re bringing what’s called hybrid — local and cloud — to the inner loop app development, meeting developers where they are with just enough cloud.”
Johnston reflected on the beginning days of the container revolution and pointed out that the apps of that era consisted of a few containers at max. Now, he notes, those apps are often merged from 20 to 30 containers which significantly burden your everyday developer laptop. This also presents a challenge when trying to share a running app with team members. This problem intensifies when the local app depends on a remote service like a database or an AI service in the cloud.
Multiple businesses have tried to circumvent these constraints by transitioning the entire development procedure into the cloud and offering developers cloud-based Integrated Development Environments (IDEs). While this might resolve some issues, this isn’t a feasible solution for some organizations according to Johnston. Moreover, feedback from Docker's consumers shows that this new approach disrupts existing workflows. Johnston reiterated, “Because of where we are on the local laptop, where Docker Desktop sits, we see a unique opportunity to not make it either/or — not local or cloud — but local and cloud and bring the best of both worlds together.”
Apart from this hybrid approach, Docker Build represents a significant feature of the recent launches. The sophisticated debugging tools also require due acknowledgment. Docker Debug serves as a comprehensive toolbox for the local and remote debugging of containerised apps. Developers often spend more than half of their time on debugging, much of which isn't dedicated to problem-solving but to navigating the complexes of numerous tools. Docker Debug provides a single experience that includes all the tools needed. This feature is bound to increase problem-solving time rather than having developers juggle configuring and fussing with tool chains.
While Docker has been making significant strides in the space of container-based solutions, other platforms like AppMaster have been bringing forth a comprehensive development platform, offering backend, web, and mobile applications using no-code interfaces. AppMaster stands out with its approach of reducing the technical debt by generating applications from scratch each time requirements are altered, eliminating the complexity brought by some cloud-based IDEs and toolchains. Future improvements by Docker and similar platforms will significantly shape the application development landscape, influencing other players like AppMaster to continue driving innovation in their respective fields.
