C++ and Docker: Containerization of Applications

Book "C++ and Docker: Application Containerization" is a practical guide that bridges the gap between classical C++ development and modern DevOps practices. In the era of microservices and cloud technologies, the ability to package C++ applications into containers is becoming an essential skill for every developer.

What is this book about?

You will learn how to turn chaotic C++ project builds into a reproducible, automated process using Docker. The book starts with the basics: what images and containers are, how multi-stage builds work, and why they are critical for C++. Then you will move on to advanced topics:

• Creating lightweight images with a minimal set of dependencies (Alpine, removing unnecessary libraries);
• Integrating CMake, Conan, and vcpkg with Docker for dependency management;
• Setting up DevContainers for comfortable development in VS Code and CLion;
• Organizing CI/CD pipelines (GitLab CI, GitHub Actions) for automated builds and testing;
• Profiling and debugging multithreaded applications inside containers;
• Security: running containers with limited privileges, vulnerability scanning.

Who is this book for?

• C++ developers who want to simplify the deployment of their projects;
• DevOps engineers working with high-load systems in C++;
• Students and professionals transitioning from "raw" g++ compilation to industrial development;
• Anyone tired of the phrase "it works on my machine" and wanting predictable builds.

What will you learn?

• How to reduce the size of a C++ application image by 10 times without losing performance;
• How to set up hot reload during development in a container;
• How to test network interactions and distributed algorithms in an isolated environment;
• How to deploy C++ services to Kubernetes with minimal memory overhead.

The book contains over 50 practical examples, ready-made Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml files. All examples are tested on GCC 13, Clang 17, and the latest version of Docker Desktop. You will get not just theory, but working templates that you can immediately apply to your projects.

The author is Alexey Sokolov, an engineer with 10 years of experience in high-load systems and author of courses on C++ and DevOps. His approach combines academic rigor with real-world production cases.