I Used Docker Before I Understood It

Athrva Pawar — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 17:37:34 +0000

I've used Docker several times.

The funny part?

I didn't really understand Docker.

My first encounter with it was back in March 2026, when I was exploring different automations and customizations. One of the things I wanted to try was running Ollama with WebUI locally. I wanted a local AI model with a nice interface, and Docker happened to be part of the setup.

At the time, I wasn't very well versed with AI/LLM terminology or what was actually happening underneath. I just wanted the thing to work. 😅

That wasn't the last time I used Docker.

n8n

My next encounter was when I was trying out an n8n automation.

I was frustrated with how many hackathon alerts I was missing because of chaotic WhatsApp groups. So I wanted to build a workflow that could filter the messages I cared about and send useful information to a Telegram node.

Docker was involved in getting n8n running.

At the time, though, Docker was basically just another command I had to run to make the thing work.

Eventually, running all of this started taking a toll on my poor laptop. I had storage and RAM issues, so I ended up removing Docker and later switched to running n8n using a .bat script.

I still didn't really understand Docker.

Hyperledger

Then Docker showed up again while I was experimenting with Hyperledger and blockchain.

The idea was to use the blockchain infrastructure to store logs for a demonstration. Docker was involved in getting the required services running.

Once again, I was using Docker because the setup instructions told me to.

I could make it work.

I couldn't really explain why it worked.

Docker at my internship

This was probably the point where I started appreciating Docker.

During my internship, I had to work with an observability stack involving tools like Grafana, Prometheus and the ELK stack, along with a few other services.

Instead of manually installing and configuring every single component on my laptop, I could use Docker and Docker Compose to bring the environment up.

That was the first time I really noticed the value of it.

I remember seeing another intern manually setting up some of these tools while I could bring up several services together through Docker.

And I thought:

"Oh. This is actually pretty useful."

So what does Docker actually do?

This is where I am currently in my learning journey.

The simplest way I can currently explain Docker to myself is that it lets you package an application together with the environment it needs and run that package consistently on systems that support Docker.

That sounds obvious now.

It didn't when I started.

I used to think of Docker as some complicated way of installing software.

Now I'm beginning to understand the difference between images, containers, volumes, networks and the Docker engine.

I have also started thinking about Docker somewhat like the Java/JVM world I am familiar with.

It's not a perfect analogy, but the idea helps me:

A Docker image is somewhat like a blueprint, while a container is an instance created from that image.

Again, this isn't literally how the two systems work. It's just an analogy that helps me reason about it while I'm learning.

What I still don't understand

Quite a lot. 😂

I have used Dockerfiles without really understanding everything happening inside them.

I've run Docker Compose configurations without always understanding why every service, network or volume was there.

I've pulled images from registries and run containers without thinking too deeply about what happens between the command and the running application.

And I definitely don't understand Docker's internals yet.

So that's what I want to change.

What I'm learning next

Instead of blindly running commands and hoping they work, I want to understand:

Dockerfiles
Building images
Image layers
Containers
Volumes
Networks
Docker Compose
How Docker actually works underneath
How containers interact with the host system

Basically, I want to stop being the person who says:

"Run this command. It worked for me."

and become the person who can actually explain why the command works.

Final thought

Looking back, I've probably used Docker more times than I realized.

n8n.

Ollama and WebUI.

Hyperledger.

My internship observability stack.

And now, finally, Docker itself.

It's kind of funny that I am learning the tool properly only after repeatedly using it.

Maybe that's not such a bad way to learn after all.

PS: Turns out I used n8n the first time for n8n, and Ollama + WebUI later.

Well... I do have a terrible memory. 😂

BONUS

At one point I even made a custom UI to replace WebUI.

This was before I realized that I was, in fact, terrible at frontend design.

We all start somewhere. 😭

DEV Community: Athrva Pawar