Word
container image
Definition
compound. a ready-to-use file that contains everything a computer program needs to run, including the code and settings. You can think of it as a digital box that works the same way on any computer.
compound. a lightweight, standalone, executable package of software that includes everything needed to run an application: code, runtime, system tools, system libraries and settings. It serves as a static template for creating active containers in a virtualised environment.
Examples
“The developer shared the container image with the whole team.”
“By using a standard container image, the engineering team ensured that the application behaved identically on their laptops and the production servers.”
“Security audits of a container image typically involve scanning its layers for known vulnerabilities before it is deployed to a cloud-based orchestration platform.”
Examples
simple
“The developer shared the container image with the whole team.”
contextual
“By using a standard container image, the engineering team ensured that the application behaved identically on their laptops and the production servers.”
complex
“Security audits of a container image typically involve scanning its layers for known vulnerabilities before it is deployed to a cloud-based orchestration platform.”
Usage
Commonly used in the context of cloud computing and software development; often shortened to just 'image' when the context is clear.
Pitfall
the container image is running
the container is running
An 'image' is the static file or template; the 'container' is the active, running instance of that image.
Etymology
A compound of container, referring to the method of operating-system-level virtualisation, and image, a term used in computing since the 1960s to describe a complete representation of a system or data set at a specific point in time.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/container-image