Why Docker Makes Local Development Environments Powerful and How to Set Up Docker Desktop

Previously, setting up local development projects required installing many software packages; Docker offers a cooler way to run experiments locally.

Using Docker for local development provides obvious advantages: no reliance on company resources, a complete and controllable environment, standardized images that avoid installation pitfalls, easy creation and disposal of virtual environments, a low installation barrier, and simply being cool.

The reason these advantages exist is that Docker Desktop runs a virtual machine on the host, and all installations and start/stop actions happen inside that VM.

To set up the basic environment, download Docker Desktop. During installation you may encounter two common errors.

WSL2 Linux kernel update package

Docker Desktop requires a newer WSL kernel version

This error means you need to update the WSL2 kernel; download the update package from the provided URL.

Docker containers require virtualization support

Hardware assisted virtualization and data execution protection must be enabled in the BIOS

Enable virtualization in the BIOS and restart.

After installation, Docker Desktop’s home page is simple. The Guides section contains three examples; clicking “Run” quickly launches local services. For example, you can start an Nginx container, view it in the Terminal tab, and issue commands.

Running services in containers is far more convenient than installing each software manually, but further challenges remain, such as missing commands inside the container, mapping files, managing network and ports for multiple services, and building custom Dockerfiles for smoother local development.

The article invites readers to share their own environment setup methods and join the discussion.