I miss going to user groups, but with all the videos online now it is does mean I can get to more of the slightly further away user groups like Dot Net North. Even if I don't get to talk to anyone there.

I first saw Docker being used by a developer in my co-working space for his Dating Site Whitelabel platform. The platform's userbase was growing and he was experimenting with different infrastructures to help support that growth. Docker enabled him to set up test environments that would be identical to the final production environment, to set them up quickly and repeatedly. He found this incredibly useful.

Docker was very much a Linux only proposition back then. So I felt a bit dejected in the Windows World. I was excited when Microsoft announced it was bringing Docker to windows, but then frustrated that it was taking so long and the first version didn't meet all my expectations.

A lot has happened since then. Docker for Windows has completely arrived and it's been quietly getting better and better. This talk by Mohamad Lawand is a fantastic introduction to getting started with Docker on your .NET Core MVC project.

If you want to skip the intro to Docker and get straight into the practical demo of creating your app as a docker image then skip to 32 minutes into the video above. You can find the docker file he uses in this demo on GitHub.