Docker ‘Create Something from Nothing’: Building .NET Core Apps Without Local SDKs

During the Three Kingdoms era (220‑280 AD) strategies were crucial for dominance, just as modern IT seeks powerful tactics to boost delivery efficiency.

In 2013, DevOps gained momentum and Docker emerged as a transformative technology that quickly spread worldwide, offering a way to dramatically improve deployment speed.

Docker "Create Something from Nothing" is the first of these strategic tips, inspired by the Lao‑zi saying “All things are born of being, being is born of non‑being”.

By using the provided GitHub repository https://github.com/ups216/netcore-docker-example , you can compile and debug .NET Core code without any SDK installed on the host.

Below is the docker-compose.ci.build.yml file that defines the CI build process:

version: '2' services: ci-build: image: microsoft/aspnetcore-build:1.0-1.1 volumes: - .:/src working_dir: /src command: /bin/bash -c "dotnet restore ./netcore-docker-example.sln && dotnet publish ./netcore-docker-example.sln -c Release -o ./obj/Docker/publish"

Run the build with a single command (no other software required besides Docker):

docker-compose -f docker-compose.ci.build.yml up

The command performs three actions:

Pulls the microsoft/aspnetcore-build:1.0-1.1 image from Docker Hub and starts a container.

Mounts the current directory into the container at /src .

Executes dotnet restore and dotnet publish inside the container to compile and package the application.

Inside the container, the pre‑installed SDKs (dotnet, node, npm, bower, etc.) enable a clean, isolated build environment, eliminating the need for any local development tools.

This is the “create something from nothing” technique.

Beyond this example, Docker’s ability to provision clean environments on demand enables many scenarios, such as:

Setting up lightweight, reproducible CI pipelines without maintaining multiple VM images for different languages or versions.

Sharing a single build environment across multiple projects, reducing resource consumption and increasing utilization.

Previous Docker4Dev articles cover topics like Windows containers, Azure registry, VSTS/TFS pipelines, and macOS development with VS Code.