Using Docker Containers for Automating Web Testing

Docker is one of the hottest technologies in our industry today. It lets you create and manage containers—like virtual machines but smaller and faster. They can provide on-demand, disposable test environments that start quickly, repeatably, locally or in the cloud. When you want, you can tear down the environment and recreate a pristine copy within seconds. And since the process is automated, anyone on the team can use the same commands to get their own test systems. Then, when you finish testing, those containers can be deployed directly into production. At each stage, the environments for development, test, and production will all look and behave the same.

NOTE: This workshop is a hands-on introduction for anyone interested in learning Docker—you will need your laptop. We will walk through building docker containers, starting out simple but moving to more pragmatic setups. We’ll test those systems locally and in the cloud. As we iterate, we will build out tests and capabilities. And then I’ll show how all of this evolves to a full-blown, production-ready setup.