Foreword

By eliminating variability in shipping and logistics, containers revolutionized the world back in 1956. This paradigm shift alone increased trade between nations, grew markets to a global scale, and decreased loading costs by approximately 97%. Today, Docker containers are having a similar revolutionary impact on the IT industry that no one can afford to fall behind.

I have been in the industry for more than 14 years, leading next-generation technology implementation efforts in world-class enterprise companies where technology is in the heart of the business, contributing toward their revenue. Throughout my professional journey, I've had a chance to be a part of many technology shifts, including virtualization, public cloud, software-defined data centers, infrastructure as a code, and containers. Lately, I've been focusing on delivering a universal container image and artifact management platform for one of the top global fintech companies, Intuit.

I met the author of this book, Earl Waud, during a technology presentation back in 2010. First impressions matter most, and I accidentally spilled a cup of coffee on his notebook—which turned out to be the beginning of a lifelong friendship.

After knowing Earl for more than eight years, I would describe him as a very professional, innovative, methodical, self-driven, and genuine person, allowing him to achieve any goal that he desires. There are countless examples of him coming up with an innovative idea, designing it on paper, engineering it in the lab, and implementing it in production to help and serve mission-critical, multibillion-dollar, revenue-generating products.

Historically, the infrastructure side and the software side of the IT industry have been disconnected for a long time. There are many interdependencies between both sides, yet most of the technologies and capabilities were siloed and handled differently. Docker container technology is bridging this gap by introducing a standardized way of building, packaging, and delivering software. Although there are several container technologies available, many professionals have chosen to use Docker because it is one of the most stable and effective platforms.

In Docker Quick Start Guide, by Earl Waud, Earl clearly depicts how you can build, package, and deploy your software as a container. He provides insight into many container related technologies with hands-on examples, allowing you to pick the right containerization approach for your software. With the skill set that you will gain from this book, you will be able to transform your traditional software to containerized software very rapidly, effectively, and successfully for all your business needs.

If decreasing cost, time to market, and variability is important for your business, and software containerization is in your roadmap to achieve these goals, Docker Quick Start Guide is one of the most important references that you can have in your library.

I would like to conclude by, one more time, saying thank you to the author of this book, Earl Waud, for leading the way by setting an example for the rest of the world, both at a professional level and a personal level. "We always win" my friend.

– Mert Cubukcuoglu

Senior Manager, Intuit Inc.