What is Containerisation? — UK Software Development Guide
Direct Answer
Containerisation is the process of packaging software code together with all its dependencies (libraries, configuration, runtime) into a standardised unit called a container. Containers run consistently across different environments — a container that works on a developer's laptop will work identically in production. Docker is the most widely used containerisation technology.
Containerisation in the UK
Containerisation has direct UK Cyber Essentials benefits. Container image scanning (Trivy, Snyk Container) detects vulnerable dependencies in container images before they are deployed — directly supporting the Cyber Essentials patch management control. Immutable containers (each deployment is a new container image, not a modified existing one) improve security by preventing configuration drift. For UK GDPR: containers must not contain personal data in their image layers — build-time secrets (API keys, database passwords) must never be baked into container images.
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