Build containers faster with Jib, a Google image build tool for Java applications

Description

Containers are at the heart of many complex distributed systems. Traditionally, Dockerfiles define container image builds from the system up. You start with a base OS, add dependency libraries, and then install your application. This can be cumbersome, error prone, and slow. Google is building container images a different way. Applications that used to take minutes to build and push now take seconds. How do we do it? By building containers from the application down.

Qingyang Chen and Appu Goundan demonstrate how to speed up container-based development by building container images with Jib. Jib speeds up development by finely separating your application across multiple layers and incrementally building the images. Instead of using Dockerfiles, Jib packs a Java application into a container by inferring what it needs from your Maven or Gradle project.

Google has released Jib to the open source community. Qingyang and Appu share how you can leverage its capabilities to speed up your development process and orchestrate larger, more complex systems.