Read of the week: The Docker Book: Containerization is the new virtualization

Next week’s read: The Linux Commandline

After that week’s rather filling read I decided to go for something a bit more lightweight and choose The Docker Book. I finished it the week after, but couldn’t find the time to do the writeup- so sorry about the delay. My schedule now is much better so you should see a book review each week. Alright, let’s talk about this book. I’ve been using containers (on Windows) to set up self-provisioned dev and test environments, and I wanted to freshen up my knowledge on Docker. This book covers the basics of containers and Docker, and walks you through some examples such as using Docker for tests, continuous integration. It also covers intermediate (and related) topics such as orchestration and service discovery.

Author style

The language is informal, but clear. It stays on point without much sidesteps or stories. The author speaks directly to the user he doesn’t use personal jargon. I noticed the use of many small summaries, and bullet points, with shorter explanations in-between. A style that works well for me when my attention span is on the short side.

Chapters

Introduction to Docker
Installing Docker
Getting Started with Docker
Working with Docker images and repositories
Testing with Docker
Building services with Docker
Orchestration with Docker Compose, Docker Swarm and Consul
Using the Docker API
Extending Docker

Personal review

I liked this book, it was easy to read and I got through it fairly quickly. Due to the ‘short-sections’ style it would work well as a reference manual. My first though was that it was pretty much the Docker docs in a book form, but the book has pulled in more information and added on realistic examples (and walkthroughs. There is a reason why the book is poplar and considered ‘the’ manual on Docker. If you want to learn about containers and Docker, with focus on learning the commands (learn by doing), I would recommend this book.

If I had to say something negative it would be that I wish the book had done some more explaining. Overall it is intended for beginners, and serves that purpose really well. Thumbs up from me.

The book is more than reasonable priced. I reckon it is worth more than the current price (10USD) so don’t you try to pirate the book ;) And oh!- Its actually up to date! Now that’s rare in tech books, so let’s take a moment and appreciate that! (its shitloads of work I’m telling you..!)

Other reviews

The book has gotten great reviews, mostly scoring top score. The reviews vary from 3.5 to 4.5 (out of five)- with majority being at 4.5.

Where to get it:

Offers the book in any format you would like, except paperback.

You can also find it on Amazon if you are a Kindle user. It costs slightly more, 13 USD compared to 10 on the website.

Other

Description/the numbers

Full title

The Docker Book: Containerization is the new virtualization

Information about the author:

Written by James Turnbull, previously CTO for Kickstarter

Also author of The LogStash book, as well as two other books on Puppet, and more.The Art of Monitoring was released today I believe, I’m adding that to my read list :)

Background information about the book

Audience

Developers, dev ops

Form

E-book only

Pages

270

Keywords

Containers, Docker

Readability (based on the average of 3 pages with no code).

Flesch-Kincaid measures:

Reading ease: 42.6

Grade level: 11*

* Fairly difficult to read, close to college level. For comparison, 9th-grade level is often used for legal documents.

Sentence average length: 14 words*

* Generally 25 is recommended as max

Read of the week: The Docker Book: Containerization is the new virtualization

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