[dude187]

Typically I use a multi stage build so I build the app in one container, and copy the result to a final output container. That keeps the final container clean and lightweight. Pure local development I prefer to do locally outside of any container.

There's certainly patterns you can use to run things like auto compiling code (think angular app in dev server mode) as you save in a container to ensure a consistent dev environment. However, I usually find that you're fighting the operating system and dev tooling on things like volume syncing that makes it not actually a net benefit. Though if I were to tackle getting my 100 devs consistent and I know they all have the same OS layout it probably would be worth it.

The only time I tend to code "in" a container is when it's a very large code base with complicated dev tooling, or tooling I need to containerize to avoid clashing with my OS. In that case I build a "build container" and run it with a volume mount pointing to my working directory, rather than do a docker build. For a large code base, the purist "build with docker" approach requires copying that whole build context each time. Causing the build to take forever and thrash disk space