Development vs production Dockerfiles - Hands-On Comparison

Development vs Production Dockerfiles

📖 Scenario: You are working on a simple web application using Docker. You want to create two Dockerfiles: one for development with debugging tools and live reload, and one for production optimized for performance and smaller size.

🎯 Goal: Build two Dockerfiles named Dockerfile.dev and Dockerfile.prod with specific content for development and production environments.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a Dockerfile.dev starting from python:3.12-slim image

Add installation of flask and debugpy in Dockerfile.dev

Create a Dockerfile.prod starting from python:3.12-alpine image

Add installation of only flask in Dockerfile.prod

Use CMD to run app.py in both Dockerfiles

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Developers often need different Docker setups for development and production to optimize debugging and performance.

💼 Career

Understanding how to write and manage multiple Dockerfiles is essential for DevOps roles and software deployment pipelines.

1

Create the development Dockerfile

Create a file named Dockerfile.dev with these exact lines:
FROM python:3.12-slim
RUN pip install flask debugpy
COPY app.py /app.py
CMD ["python", "/app.py"]

Docker

# Create Dockerfile.dev with base image python:3.12-slim and install flask and debugpy
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use FROM to set the base image, RUN to install packages, COPY to add your app, and CMD to run it.

2

Create the production Dockerfile

Create a file named Dockerfile.prod with these exact lines:
FROM python:3.12-alpine
RUN pip install flask
COPY app.py /app.py
CMD ["python", "/app.py"]

Docker

FROM python:3.12-slim
RUN pip install flask debugpy
COPY app.py /app.py
CMD ["python", "/app.py"]
# Create Dockerfile.prod with base image python:3.12-alpine and install only flask
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use a smaller base image python:3.12-alpine and install only flask for production.

3

Add a comment explaining the difference

Add a comment at the top of Dockerfile.dev that says: # Development Dockerfile with debug tools and a comment at the top of Dockerfile.prod that says: # Production Dockerfile optimized for size

Docker

# Add comments at the top of Dockerfile.dev and Dockerfile.prod
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Comments start with # and explain the purpose of each Dockerfile.

4

Display the content of both Dockerfiles

Print the content of Dockerfile.dev and Dockerfile.prod exactly as created, separated by a blank line.

Docker

# Print Dockerfile.dev content
# Print a blank line
# Print Dockerfile.prod content
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use triple quotes to store multi-line strings and print() to display them.