Your Docker images are bloated. Here's the fix. 📦
Before: 1.2GB Node.js image After: 120MB production image Secret: Multi-stage builds
The Problem: Most Dockerfiles include everything: • Development dependencies • Build tools • Source code • Package managers • Documentation
The Solution:
# Stage 1: Build
FROM node:18 as builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
RUN npm run build
# Stage 2: Production
FROM node:18-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --only=production
COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["npm", "start"]
Why This Works: • Build stage has all tools needed to compile • Production stage only gets the compiled output • Alpine base image is tiny (5MB vs 900MB) • No dev dependencies in final image
Pro Tips:
• Use .dockerignore to exclude unnecessary files
• Order COPY commands by change frequency
• Use specific base image tags (not latest)
• Consider distroless images for even smaller size
Other Benefits: • Faster deployments (smaller images) • Reduced attack surface (fewer packages) • Lower storage costs • Faster container startup
For Other Languages:
• Go: Use scratch or alpine for final stage
• Java: Use JRE instead of JDK in final stage
• Python: Use python:slim or alpine
Your deployment pipeline will thank you.
What's your Docker image optimization secret? 🐳