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Why Dockerfile Best Practices Matter Poorly written Dockerfiles lead to large, insecure, and hard-to-maintain container images. Following best practices ensures faster builds, smaller images, better security, and improved maintainability. 1. Use Official or Minimal Base Images Choose minimal or well-maintained base images like: FROM alpine:3.19 # or FROM python:3.11-slim 2. Pin Versions Explicitly Avoid surprises by pinning versions of dependencies and packages: RUN apt-get install -y curl=7.68.0-1ubuntu2.6 3. Combine RUN Commands Reduce layers by chaining commands: ...

Introduction In the Java ecosystem, Gradle and Maven are the two most popular build tools. Each offers a different approach to dependency management, configuration, and build automation. Gradle Overview Gradle uses a Groovy or Kotlin-based DSL. It’s highly customizable and optimized for performance via incremental builds and caching. Pros Faster builds with incremental compilation and daemon Flexible scripting with Groovy/Kotlin DSL Strong integration with Android Cons Steeper learning curve Harder to debug in complex configurations Maven Overview Maven relies on XML (pom.xml) for configuration. It’s declarative and standardized, which makes onboarding easier. ...

Caching in Kubernetes Ingress Caching is a key strategy to reduce backend load and improve response times for clients. In Kubernetes, caching is usually implemented through the Ingress controller — particularly with NGINX. Why Use Caching? Reduce load on backend services Improve speed for repeated requests Minimize cost and bandwidth Smooth handling of traffic spikes Common Caching Setup: NGINX Ingress The NGINX Ingress Controller supports proxy caching via annotations. Step 1: Enable caching in your Ingress resource apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1 kind: Ingress metadata: name: my-app-ingress annotations: nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/proxy-cache: "my-cache-zone" nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/proxy-cache-key: "$scheme$request_method$host$request_uri" nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/proxy-cache-use-stale: "error timeout updating http_500 http_502 http_503 http_504" spec: rules: - host: myapp.example.com http: paths: - path: / pathType: Prefix backend: service: name: my-app port: number: 80 Step 2: Define the cache zone in the NGINX ConfigMap apiVersion: v1 kind: ConfigMap metadata: name: nginx-configuration namespace: ingress-nginx data: proxy-cache-paths: | my-cache-zone keys_zone=my-cache-zone:10m max_size=100m inactive=60m use_temp_path=off; ⚠️ Requires restarting the Ingress controller or reloading its config. ...

Introduction Containers revolutionized the way we package and deploy applications. Two major containerization technologies are LXC (Linux Containers) and Docker. While they serve similar purposes, their underlying architecture and usage differ significantly. What is LXC? LXC is a userspace interface for the Linux kernel containment features. It creates system-level containers that behave more like lightweight virtual machines. Key Characteristics System containers (can run full OS) Uses cgroups and namespaces directly Close to the kernel Pros Great for simulating full Linux environments Low overhead Flexible networking Cons More complex setup Less standardization across environments Not focused on developer UX What is Docker? Docker is a platform for developing, shipping, and running applications in containers. It builds on top of container runtimes and provides tooling, APIs, and images. ...

Overview Ruby is a dynamic, expressive language with a strong history in web development. Several frameworks have emerged over the years, offering different trade-offs for speed, flexibility, and structure. In this article, we’ll explore the most popular Ruby web frameworks and help you choose the right one for your project. 1. Ruby on Rails The most popular and full-featured Ruby framework. Pros: Convention over configuration Built-in ORM (ActiveRecord), migrations, mailers, etc. Large community and ecosystem Cons: Heavy for small applications Learning curve for beginners Example: # config/routes.rb Rails.application.routes.draw do get '/hello', to: 'welcome#index' end # app/controllers/welcome_controller.rb class WelcomeController < ApplicationController def index render plain: "Hello from Rails!" end end 2. Sinatra A lightweight DSL for quickly creating web applications. ...