When we start learning Containerization, we need to understand how the container image is different from container.
A container image is a packaged application, which is ready to run as a container.
We can consider the image as an application installer downloaded from the app store to our desktop or laptop. It would be a zip file or MSI file.
Then we will install the application in our desktop or laptop. Once we run the application, we can think of that as the container.
In short, Images are the executable packages that includes the,
- application code
- run time
- libraries
- variables and
- configurations files
that we need to execute or run the application.
Once the image is executed, it's called a container.
Please refer the below diagram for more understanding.
![Understand the difference between Containers and Container Images]()
We can download the image from image repository such as Docker Hub. After download, we can use Docker to run the image.
I hope this helps to understand the definition of container and container image.