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Docker Deep Dive by Nigel Poulton
Rating: ★★★★★
Date Finished: January 10th, 2018
Reading Time: A day

Docker Deep Dive (v4) is a fun and useful introduction to Docker. Learning by Google searches and Stack Overflow will lead to bad habits, misunderstandings, and gaps in knowledge. This book covers everything that the newbie needs to know while also providing a few explanations beneficial to those who are more experienced. There are lightning-fast TLDR sections for each chapter, but the book can be read in its entirety while following along with every example in just a few hours.

Nigel’s writing is clear and engaging. His efforts to keep the book up-to-date are commendable and his command of the subject matter is superb. Even if you have no plans to use Docker, reading Deep Dive will enable you to speak intelligently on the topic. Ironically, for how simple Docker is to use, I found that the book frequently provided real cases for the usefulness of expanding one’s Linux, sysadmin, and VM knowledge. For as much as Docker (and the author) abstracts, I still think these are vital points of understanding. Though I suppose there will be a generation of developers that comes up while scarcely knowing what a VM is (and I beckon this future).

This is a worthwhile book and I respect the author for releasing a print version. His advice is that the value of the book will diminish greatly as time elapses and Docker is developed with increasing velocity. I urge you to pick it up now, even if just to validate that you know as much about Docker as you think you do. You might be surprised.

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Docker Deep Dive Review