What's the difference between Docker Compose vs. Dockerfile [closed]

Answer 1

"better" is relative. It all depends on what your needs are. Docker compose is for orchestrating multiple containers. If these images already exist in the docker registry, then it's better to list them in the compose file. If these images or some other images have to be built from files on your computer, then you can describe the processes of building those images in a Dockerfile.

I understand that Dockerfiles are used in Docker Compose, but I am not sure if it is good practice to put everything in one large Dockerfile with multiple FROM commands for the different images?

Using multiple FROM in a single dockerfile is not a very good idea because there is a proposal to remove the feature. 13026

If for instance, you want to dockerize an application which uses a database and have the application files on your computer, you can use a compose file together with a dockerfile as follows

docker-compose.yml

mysql:
  image: mysql:5.7
  volumes:
    - ./db-data:/var/lib/mysql
  environment:
    - "MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=secret"
    - "MYSQL_DATABASE=homestead"
    - "MYSQL_USER=homestead"
  ports:
    - "3307:3306"
app:
  build:
    context: ./path/to/Dockerfile
    dockerfile: Dockerfile
  volumes:
    - ./:/app
  working_dir: /app
      

Dockerfile

FROM php:7.1-fpm 
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y libmcrypt-dev \
  mysql-client libmagickwand-dev --no-install-recommends \
  && pecl install imagick \
  && docker-php-ext-enable imagick \
  && docker-php-ext-install pdo_mysql \
  && curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php -- --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer