Ultimate DevContainer Reference Guide

Introduction

In this blog post, I’ll share my comprehensive DevContainer configurations that can supercharge your development workflow.

DevContainer Configurations

DevContainers provide a consistent, reproducible development environment across different machines. I’ve created four essential configurations:

1. Base DevContainer

{
    "name": "Base Development Container",
    "image": "mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base:ubuntu",
    "features": {
        "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/common-utils:2": {
            "installZsh": true,
            "configureZshAsDefaultShell": true,
            "installOhMyZsh": true,
            "upgradePackages": true
        }
    }
}

Key Features:

• Ubuntu-based image
• Zsh shell with Oh My Zsh
• Automatic package upgrades

2. Terraform DevContainer

{
    "name": "Terraform Development Container",
    "image": "mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base:ubuntu",
    "features": {
        "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/terraform:1": {
            "version": "latest"
        },
        "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/aws-cli:1": {}
    }
}

Ideal for:

• Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
• Cloud infrastructure management
• AWS CLI integration

3. Python3 DevContainer

{
    "name": "Python 3 Development Container",
    "image": "mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/python:1-bullseye",
    "features": {
        "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/python:1": {
            "installTools": true
        }
    }
}

Perfect for:

• Data science
• Web development
• Scripting and automation

4. Node.js DevContainer

{
    "name": "Node.js Development Container",
    "image": "mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/javascript-node:1-bullseye",
    "features": {
        "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/node:1": {
            "version": "lts"
        }
    }
}

Great for:

• Web applications
• Frontend development
• Backend JavaScript projects

Conclusion

DevContainers and Markdown are powerful tools that can significantly improve your development workflow. Experiment, customize, and find what works best for you!

Resources

• DevContainers Documentation