What is a .DOCKERIGNORE file?
A .DOCKERIGNORE file is a simple text file used by Docker, which is a tool that helps developers package and share applications easily. This file tells Docker to skip certain files and folders that are not needed when it is creating a version of an application, known as building. By ignoring these unnecessary items, the process of building the application becomes faster because Docker doesn't have to deal with extra files that aren't important for the application to work.
The .DOCKERIGNORE file is usually placed in the main folder of the application project and is named exactly as ".dockerignore". Inside this file, developers list down the names of files and folders that Docker should not include. The file starts with a line like "# .dockerignore" to indicate its purpose, followed by the list of items to ignore.
To open and edit a .DOCKERIGNORE file, you can use Docker itself or other programs like Microsoft Visual Studio Code, which is a popular tool for writing and editing code. You can also use any basic text editor, like Notepad on Windows or TextEdit on Mac, because the .DOCKERIGNORE file is just a plain text file.
In summary, the .DOCKERIGNORE file is a helpful way for developers to make the process of building applications with Docker more efficient by excluding files and directories that are not needed. This makes the build process quicker and ensures that the final application package is not bloated with unnecessary files.
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