How Production Works
Docker to Kubernetes for API developers. Six lessons, fast answer first, read in order.
You have heard the names for years: Docker, Kubernetes, registries, CI/CD, "the cloud". This course teaches each one the way you actually want it taught: a fast answer up front, then the concept built up from the smallest piece, with the commands you would really type.
One idea runs through the whole course: every tool here answers one specific question about running software, and most systems need fewer of them than you think. By the end you will know what each piece does, how they connect, and, just as importantly, when to leave one out.
Part I: Containers
01 Docker Why Docker exists, images vs containers vs Dockerfiles, your first container, the commands that matter, volumes, ports, and configuration. 02 Compose and Container Networking Why localhost breaks between containers, Docker networks and built-in DNS, and Compose running your API, database, and cache as one stack.Part II: Shipping
03 Registries, Releases, and CI/CD Getting an image off your laptop: registries, tags vs immutable digests, multi-stage builds, and the pipeline from commit to rollback. 04 Container Security Why "it is in Docker" is not a security answer: root, minimal base images, secrets kept out of images, and scanning what you ship.Part III: Orchestration
05 Kubernetes Pods, nodes, clusters, deployments, and services, built up from the smallest piece, plus desired state, self-healing, and rolling updates. 06 Do You Need Kubernetes? The decision lesson: what orchestration actually adds, the platforms that already do it for you, and the sentence to complete before choosing it.Get the free email series
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Build what you deploy
This course teaches you how the production machinery works. Mastering APIs With Python is where you build the thing worth deploying: 30 chapters in Python, ending with a containerised API on AWS with CI/CD, monitoring, and a production capstone. Three full chapters are free.