The world is at war against a virus, and the frontlines are staffed with doctors and nurses battling to save lives. But behind them in the trenches are a battalion of developers creating solutions to aid in the fight.

“There’s over 200 community projects on Docker Hub today, where you’ve got tools and containers and data analysis all in service to the COVID-19 battle that’s being fought,” said Scott Johnston (pictured, right), chief executive officer of Docker Inc.

“We’re being called to duty right now,” said Amanda Silver (left), corporate vice president of product for developer tools at Microsoft. “We need to make sure that we’re actually there to support the needs of our users and that we’re basically cranking on code as fast as we can.”

Silver and Johnson spoke with John Furrier, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during DockerCon Live. They discussed the announcement that Docker and Microsoft have extended their strategic partnership through tighter integration of the Docker command line interface with Azure Container Instances. (* Disclosure below.)

Azure in the cloud for Docker

Moving as fast as possible from build to deployment is the aim of every developer, regardless of whether they are working under a pandemic deadline or not. Tighter integration between Docker and Microsoft’s developer technologies speeds the developer workflow by removing the hassle of dealing with configuration around default settings, security, and user management, according to Johnston.

“Getting their apps from code to cloud is the watchword, or the call to action, for this partnership. And we think we’ve really hit it out of the park,” he said.

Consistency is another important factor in agile development. Docker’s containerization brings this to the table, making “the infrastructure consistent and repeatable,” Silver said. This enables developers to be agile, to have a “really fast iteration cycle,” and “consistency across all of their development team,” she added.

The “super simple experience” applies regardless of the stack the developer is targeting, according to Silver. Whether it’s Node.js, Python, .NET or C#, “you can actually initiate all of these commands, create Docker container images, and use the Docker compose files; and then do that consistently as you’re deploying it all the way up into your infrastructure in Azure,” she said.

Azure is an inclusive development environment

Making it easier and faster for developers to move through the application development process is even more important thanks to the rapid acceleration of digital transformation. “There are entire industries that are completely rethinking their approach,” said Johnston, referring to the process as a “tectonic shift” from offline to online operations.

“Paper processes are now becoming digital processes all of a sudden,” Silver agreed. “There’s just this rapid acceleration to move everything to support our new remote-first lifestyle.”

That means the huge increase in demand for application development is not only to fight the pandemic, but to support the shift to remote operations.

Together, Docker and Microsoft are aiming to make sure developers are supported as they create fast and furiously to address the need on both fronts. “We’re giving developers the tools to really take advantage of that opportunity,” Johnston said.

The bottom line: Software is a team sport, where everyone must be able to work together and collaborate, according to Silver. “The core message is that any developer and their code is welcome,” she said.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of DockerCon Live. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for DockerCon Live. Neither Docker, the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE