Composer vs Docker

Overview

Docker

Stacks194.2K

Followers143.8K

Votes3.9K

Composer

Stacks1.2K

Followers559

Votes13

GitHub Stars29.2K

Forks4.7K

Composer vs Docker: What are the differences?

Introduction

This article will discuss the key differences between Composer and Docker, two popular tools used in web development and deployment.

Installation and Purpose: Composer is a dependency management tool specifically designed for PHP projects. It allows developers to easily manage and install the required libraries and packages for their PHP applications. On the other hand, Docker is a platform that enables developers to package their applications into containers along with all the required dependencies and configurations. It provides a way to create consistent and reproducible environments for running applications.
Resource Isolation: Docker provides strong resource isolation capabilities by running applications inside containers. Each container has its own allocated resources and does not share them with other containers or the host system. This allows for better scalability and efficiency, as resources can be easily distributed and managed independently. Composer, on the other hand, does not provide resource isolation as it mainly focuses on dependency management within a PHP project.
Portability and Environment Consistency: Docker containers are portable and can be easily moved between different environments. This ensures that the application will run consistently regardless of the underlying infrastructure. Composer, on the other hand, relies on the local environment and the availability of PHP dependencies on the host system. This can sometimes lead to compatibility and dependency issues when moving the application to a different environment.
Development Workflow: Composer is mainly used during the development phase of a PHP project. It allows developers to easily manage dependencies, add new libraries, and update existing ones. Docker, on the other hand, is used throughout the development and deployment process. It provides a way to create isolated development environments, run tests, and deploy the application to different servers or cloud platforms.
Dependency Management: Composer focuses specifically on managing PHP dependencies, including libraries, frameworks, and plugins. It provides a simple way to specify which versions of dependencies are required and handles the installation and autoloading of these dependencies. Docker, on the other hand, can handle dependencies for different languages and technologies, not just PHP. It allows developers to package all the required dependencies, including system libraries, databases, and other services, into a single container.
Scalability and Load Balancing: Docker provides features for scaling applications by running multiple instances (containers) of the same application and load balancing the traffic between them. This allows for better performance and high availability. Composer, on the other hand, does not have built-in features for scaling or load balancing, as it is primarily focused on dependency management within a single PHP project.

In summary, Composer is a tool for managing PHP dependencies within a project, while Docker is a platform for packaging and running applications in isolated containers with all their dependencies. Docker provides resource isolation, portability, and scalability features, making it suitable for both development and deployment workflows.

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Advice on Docker, Composer

Florian

IT DevOp at Agitos GmbH

Oct 22, 2019

Decided

lxd/lxc and Docker aren't congruent so this comparison needs a more detailed look; but in short I can say: the lxd-integrated administration of storage including zfs with its snapshot capabilities as well as the system container (multi-process) approach of lxc vs. the limited single-process container approach of Docker is the main reason I chose lxd over Docker.

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Detailed Comparison

Docker	Composer
The Docker Platform is the industry-leading container platform for continuous, high-velocity innovation, enabling organizations to seamlessly build and share any application — from legacy to what comes next — and securely run them anywhere	It is a tool for dependency management in PHP. It allows you to declare the libraries your project depends on and it will manage (install/update) them for you.
Integrated developer tools; open, portable images; shareable, reusable apps; framework-aware builds; standardized templates; multi-environment support; remote registry management; simple setup for Docker and Kubernetes; certified Kubernetes; application templates; enterprise controls; secure software supply chain; industry-leading container runtime; image scanning; access controls; image signing; caching and mirroring; image lifecycle; policy-based image promotion	Locally; Globally
Statistics
GitHub Stars -	GitHub Stars 29.2K
GitHub Forks -	GitHub Forks 4.7K
Stacks 194.2K	Stacks 1.2K
Followers 143.8K	Followers 559
Votes 3.9K	Votes 13
Pros & Cons
Pros 823 Rapid integration and build up 692 Isolation 521 Open source 505 Testability and reproducibility 460 Lightweight Cons 8 New versions == broken features 6 Documentation not always in sync 6 Unreliable networking 4 Moves quickly 3 Not Secure	Pros 7 Must have dependency manager for PHP 3 Centralized autoload.php 3 Large number of libraries
Integrations
Java Docker Compose VirtualBox Linux Amazon EC2 Container Service Docker Swarm boot2docker Kubernetes Docker Machine Vagrant	PhpStorm Linux JavaScript PHP PuPHPet MySQL ReactPHP macOS

What are some alternatives to Docker, Composer?

Meteor

A Meteor application is a mix of JavaScript that runs inside a client web browser, JavaScript that runs on the Meteor server inside a Node.js container, and all the supporting HTML fragments, CSS rules, and static assets.

Bower

Bower is a package manager for the web. It offers a generic, unopinionated solution to the problem of front-end package management, while exposing the package dependency model via an API that can be consumed by a more opinionated build stack. There are no system wide dependencies, no dependencies are shared between different apps, and the dependency tree is flat.

Elm

Writing HTML apps is super easy with elm-lang/html. Not only does it render extremely fast, it also quietly guides you towards well-architected code.

Julia

Julia is a high-level, high-performance dynamic programming language for technical computing, with syntax that is familiar to users of other technical computing environments. It provides a sophisticated compiler, distributed parallel execution, numerical accuracy, and an extensive mathematical function library.

LXD

LXD isn't a rewrite of LXC, in fact it's building on top of LXC to provide a new, better user experience. Under the hood, LXD uses LXC through liblxc and its Go binding to create and manage the containers. It's basically an alternative to LXC's tools and distribution template system with the added features that come from being controllable over the network.

Racket

It is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm programming language based on the Scheme dialect of Lisp. It is designed to be a platform for programming language design and implementation. It is also used for scripting, computer science education, and research.

LXC

LXC is a userspace interface for the Linux kernel containment features. Through a powerful API and simple tools, it lets Linux users easily create and manage system or application containers.

PureScript

A small strongly typed programming language with expressive types that compiles to JavaScript, written in and inspired by Haskell.

pnpm

It uses hard links and symlinks to save one version of a module only ever once on a disk. When using npm or Yarn for example, if you have 100 projects using the same version of lodash, you will have 100 copies of lodash on disk. With pnpm, lodash will be saved in a single place on the disk and a hard link will put it into the node_modules where it should be installed.

rkt

Rocket is a cli for running App Containers. The goal of rocket is to be composable, secure, and fast.

Related Comparisons

Composer vs Docker: What are the differences?

Introduction

This article will discuss the key differences between Composer and Docker, two popular tools used in web development and deployment.

Installation and Purpose: Composer is a dependency management tool specifically designed for PHP projects. It allows developers to easily manage and install the required libraries and packages for their PHP applications. On the other hand, Docker is a platform that enables developers to package their applications into containers along with all the required dependencies and configurations. It provides a way to create consistent and reproducible environments for running applications.
Resource Isolation: Docker provides strong resource isolation capabilities by running applications inside containers. Each container has its own allocated resources and does not share them with other containers or the host system. This allows for better scalability and efficiency, as resources can be easily distributed and managed independently. Composer, on the other hand, does not provide resource isolation as it mainly focuses on dependency management within a PHP project.
Portability and Environment Consistency: Docker containers are portable and can be easily moved between different environments. This ensures that the application will run consistently regardless of the underlying infrastructure. Composer, on the other hand, relies on the local environment and the availability of PHP dependencies on the host system. This can sometimes lead to compatibility and dependency issues when moving the application to a different environment.
Development Workflow: Composer is mainly used during the development phase of a PHP project. It allows developers to easily manage dependencies, add new libraries, and update existing ones. Docker, on the other hand, is used throughout the development and deployment process. It provides a way to create isolated development environments, run tests, and deploy the application to different servers or cloud platforms.
Dependency Management: Composer focuses specifically on managing PHP dependencies, including libraries, frameworks, and plugins. It provides a simple way to specify which versions of dependencies are required and handles the installation and autoloading of these dependencies. Docker, on the other hand, can handle dependencies for different languages and technologies, not just PHP. It allows developers to package all the required dependencies, including system libraries, databases, and other services, into a single container.
Scalability and Load Balancing: Docker provides features for scaling applications by running multiple instances (containers) of the same application and load balancing the traffic between them. This allows for better performance and high availability. Composer, on the other hand, does not have built-in features for scaling or load balancing, as it is primarily focused on dependency management within a single PHP project.

Composer vs Docker

Overview

Composer vs Docker: What are the differences?