A Beginner’s Learning Path for Docker with .NET

I’m a huge fan of the 80/20 Principle. It’s a wonderful reminder that you can get big results without needing to apply the equivalent inputs, so long as you’re focusing on the right inputs.

It can be applied to anything, and it’s the strategy I used when getting up to speed with Docker and .NET. I’ve put together the essential blog posts and series that’ll allow anyone looking to do the same in as little time as possible. I’m not saying you’ll be an expert in Docker after reading these resources, but you’ll understand the concepts at play, and know the right terminology to use when you need more information about a particular topic.

Start With Specifics

It may seem counter-intuitive to start with the specifics of Docker as it relates to .NET, but this way, you’ll already be on your way to being productive using both techs together. Read these resources thoroughly, don’t just skim-read.

• A Start To Finish Guide to Docker and .NET gives you an overview of all Docker’s concepts as applied to .NET. It’s as good a starting point as any.
• Steve Gordon’s Docker for .NET Developers series digs into many of the topics mentioned in the above article, such as building a Dockerfile, image layers, and the why and how of running Docker containers in production.
• My own series on Docker with .NET covers the build process, tooling, logging, and networking concepts that are relevant to .NET developers when working with Docker.

Docker Concepts

Now that you’ve got the details sorted out, you can take a step back and appreciate the larger picture as it applies to .NET:

• Introduction to Docker Containers on Microsoft Learn. Incidentally, this is a great free resource for more than just Docker.
• Finally, have a look through the following blogs and articles, choose a dozen or so articles that pique your fancy, and dig deeper on those topics.

Going Further

At this point, you should have everything you need to get going with Docker and .NET in Visual Studio. There is nothing stopping you from picking up a book or watching an online course on Docker to take your knowledge to the next level, but the goal of the resources I included is to give you the knowledge you need to be effective within a few hours and refer to more detailed resources when needed.