User: Docker_Beginner_Help
Subject: Why use Docker for web applications?
Everyone talks about Docker and containers but I dont understand the benefit. Why not just deploy applications directly on server? What problem does Docker solve? Is it necessary for small projects or only for big companies?

Reply by: DevOps_Engineer_10yr
Docker solves "it works on my machine" problem. Your application with all its dependencies is packaged in container so it runs exactly same way in development, testing and production. Also makes scaling easier - need more capacity? Just spin up more containers. Rollback is simple if deployment fails. Even for small projects its worth learning Docker, its industry standard now.

Reply by: SysAdmin_OldSchool
I managed servers for 15 years without containers and everything worked fine. Docker adds complexity and overhead. For simple web applications, traditional deployment on VPS is simpler and uses less resources. But I admit Docker is useful for microservices architecture and when you have many different applications with conflicting dependencies. Learn it for your career but dont think its mandatory for every project.

Reply by: CloudNative_Advocate
Docker is not just about containers, its about modern DevOps practices. Combined with orchestration tools like Kubernetes, it enables continuous deployment, auto-scaling, self-healing. Yes there is learning curve but benefits are huge. Even for side projects I use Docker because deployment becomes so much simpler. Write Dockerfile once and deploy anywhere - local, AWS, Azure, anywhere.