Docker Deep Dive

First thing first, if you are wondering what Docker is ? Where to get started with ? Heard about Docker Certification, wish to write the exam in future ? Heard about Docker in various conferences or meetups or youtube videos and wish to learn and learn it WELL,Just get this BOOK. No need to waste your time reading anyone review(including this one :) )Just like any other book/course from Nigel, this is again a master piece. If you never read any of Nigel’s book or gone through any of his course, let me tell you few facts, which is common across any of his course or book:“You will feel like he is sitting next to you explaining you like a friend(in the most funniest was possible)”“You will not realise that you have just concurred a complex concept without any effort”“Once you complete a chapter when you will feel like you have seriously learned something”“You will gain motivation with every page you read”“YOU WOULD LEARN HOW TO TEACH OTHERS”No matter you are new to Docker or intermediate or experienced, this will help to strengthen your concepts, I personally liked these following sections:1. Images section, ID, hashes, etc.2. Engine section,3. Swarm4. Networking - It was always confusing to me, but just after a 20 pages of read, it was so clear.As much as a fact is that one would need to read through multiple books/documents in different capacities to master a concept or skillsets that the books are intended to, but to defy that fact is this one single book which is so crystal clear in its concept and logics that you right away understand every aspect of Docker and I can bet, you would not need to look into any other book for any reference at any point of time! Such is the MAGIC of this BOOK!I would highly encourage to have his online class of Docker Deep Drive in Plurasight as well to complement this book.The book also helps you guide what next step to take, how to go from there, …I can promise you that once you complete reading this book and practice along, you can pick anything around docker by reading other books/documentens/etc.I have been following Nigel since 2008, ever since I started my career as a Storage Performance Engineer, he is a great inspiration and motivation for me, and whatever small I have achieved so far in my life is due to this great gentlemen.

I got about the right amount of information (and perhaps some) I was expecting to get from the book, so I'm happy. This is a perfect book for people who have no prior exposure to Docker as well as for those who have some but have gaps to fill. I fall in the latter. Having the read the book, I now feel well-equipped to talk to my colleagues who have been working with Docker longer than I have and ask them why we did things one way versus the other, or whether or not we're using certain features. This is certainly not a complete reference (you have the Docker website for that). But it covers a lot of ground. It gets you to a place where you know all the tools there are at your disposal and how to use them. Then you can dig some more (e.g. all other available command-line options) when you actually start using them.Nigel, whom I've had the pleasure of corresponding with, has a relaxed writing style, which I actually liked (I found him on PluralSight first). It's like some friendly, competent colleague giving you a TOI in the morning. And yes, it has to be in the morning because I usually get post-lunch dips. So, I would probably just waste your time if we did it in the afternoon.But I digress. Great book on Docker.

I read this book whole heartedly - all 400 pages of goodness in it. It is worth the price for its content. So for that I think this book deserves at least 4 stars. The book, not only was an interesting read for me, but I learned tonnes of infrastructure concepts as well besides docker. The author is a funny guy too - so it made the overall experience very pleasing. In fact for the certification exam, I only relied on this material and a few reading of docker manuals (NOT ALL).The reason why am deducting 1 star is the book is not complete enough to cover all aspects of the certification exam. I was able to pass it, but because it occurred to me that to scrub through the Docker manuals for some stuff. IMO, it missed these key points at the cost of repetition of certain content:- container cpu/mem/resource allocations- more coverage on Dockerfile syntax- more coverage on additional docker constructs: commit / save / load - basically small nifty features that docker provides OOTB for image management- Additional real world scenarios - such as updating docker secret for swarm, etcPlus there was a typo in Ch 17 - Camaro instead of Camero! Not a biggie :) Overall, I do recommend this book - its worth the price tag.

Nigel really does a great job structuring a book to help students focus on the exam's targeted areas and giving you code to do hands-on, which gives you perspectives of Docker's capabilities. It can also be a great resource if you need to brush up on certain operations and he has promised to update twice a year - to keep up with the constant changes in the Docker Community regarding tools, features, and updated commands. Now he needs to take his experience as a technical writer/teacher and write a CKA / Certified Kubernetes Administrator Exam Study Guide to finally address a serious gap in the teaching community of a proper study guide for the CKA. I highly recommend this book and yearly updates - to keep you updated on Docker's changes.