I've been using Dev Containers on and off for a few years, mostly for personal projects, and I've had a decent experience with them. They integrate well with VS Code, which I appreciate since it's backed by Microsoft. However, I've encountered some issues in VScodium. I'm curious about their actual adoption in professional environments. Do they really catch on, or are they fading into the background? For instance, I noticed they have around 4000 GitHub stars, which seems low for a tool that could benefit many developers, especially those using Microsoft's suite (like Azure DevOps, GitHub, Visual Studio). I'm also torn between sticking with Dev Containers or just creating my own containers, but the VS Code integration does make things easier. What do you all think?
4 Answers
I've been using Dev Containers for a while now and they've been a game changer, especially for keeping dev environments consistent. It's non-intrusive since developers can choose whether to use them, and it really helps in unifying the setup across the team. If someone doesn't want in, that’s totally fine!
I initially tried promoting dev containers, but there was a lot of resistance from the software devs. They seemed hesitant to adopt something they weren't comfortable with, especially since we were running the application in containers in production. I find that my fellow developers often prefer sticking to their familiar workflows rather than integrating new tech that adds uncertainty.
Totally agree! If it hampers their workflow, why push it?
We utilize them through devpod with a custom image that contains everything we need. Onboarding engineers has never been easier since we don't have to deal with countless CLIs and toolchain variations anymore. It all runs seamlessly on EKS, and scaling is a breeze when we need it!
That sounds awesome! I’ll definitely give devpod a closer look; it seems like it covers a lot of bases.
Nice! I love anything that simplifies onboarding!
I've incorporated Dev Containers in my projects and it makes a difference when juggling different K8s versions and tools. I even gave a presentation on this at our last internal conference. It helps in having standardized environments that mirror production, which is crucial!
Same here! It really helps with dependency management across multiple devices.
That's a valid point. The setup has to be intuitive for it to be worth it.