Should We Use Docker for Collaborative Web Development?

I actually think you should consider using Docker early on if you're all on different machines. A simple setup can really help avoid those 'it works on my laptop' problems later. You don't need to overengineer it—just a straightforward development container with Docker Compose should do the trick.

Honestly, for a three-person team working on a project like this, Docker might be more trouble than it's worth. If someone can clone the repo and run `npm install` followed by `pip install -r requirements.txt` without issues, you're probably fine. Docker does add complexity and a learning curve that might slow your team down. That said, if you find unexpected environment issues down the line, Docker could be a lifesaver, but I'd hold off on it for now.

For a short, two-month project, I'd recommend not overdoing it with Docker. Just use Docker Compose for your database and any tricky services. Let React and FastAPI run natively—it'll save you a lot of hassle. Plus, a simple README that walks everyone through the setup with a `.env.example` file should keep things synced without needing to fully containerize everything.

Using Docker for your local development can really help standardize the environment across different machines. It should prevent any 'it works on my machine' headaches since everyone will be using the same setup. You might also want to containerize your database to keep everything consistent. Just make sure you also have a solid GitHub workflow with branches for each feature, merging into the main branch only when everything's tested and stable.