PHP and Docker: Application Containerization

This book is a practical guide for PHP developers who want to master Docker and change their approach to developing and deploying web applications. You will learn how containerization solves the "it works on my machine" problem, simplifies teamwork, and automates processes from local development to production.

What the book covers:

• Docker basics: images, containers, Dockerfile, Docker Compose — from scratch to confident usage.
• Building a PHP environment: creating containers with PHP-FPM, Nginx, Apache, configuring MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis.
• Working with frameworks: ready-made recipes for Laravel, Symfony, WordPress, and Yii2 — image optimization, caching, environment variables.
• Development and testing: Xdebug in a container, PHPUnit, integration tests, dependency management via Composer.
• Production deployment: multi-staging, image size optimization, security, working with Docker Swarm and Kubernetes.
• CI/CD: setting up pipelines in GitLab CI, GitHub Actions — automated build, testing, and deployment.
• Microservices in PHP: design, inter-service communication, queues (RabbitMQ), load balancing.

Who this book is for:

• PHP developers (junior, middle, senior) who want to integrate Docker into their projects.
• DevOps engineers working with PHP stacks and looking for ready-made solutions.
• Team leads and architects planning a transition to a microservices architecture.
• Students and beginners who want to understand modern deployment practices.

What you will learn:

• How to set up a full environment for Laravel or Symfony in 15 minutes.
• How to reduce a Docker image size from 1 GB to 150 MB.
• How to configure hot code reloading in a container.
• How to set up CI/CD so that deployment takes 2 minutes.
• How to avoid common mistakes when working with volumes and permissions.

The book contains over 50 practical examples, ready-made docker-compose.yml files, and step-by-step instructions. All examples are tested on PHP 8.x and the latest versions of Docker. You will get not just theory, but working templates that can be immediately applied to your projects.

Perfect for those already familiar with PHP who want to level up to DevOps practices. After reading, you will be able to confidently containerize any PHP applications and manage their lifecycle.

Format: PDF, EPUB, online version. Example code is available on GitHub.