# Efficient Dockerfile templating for complex build scenarios

DevFeed: [Efficient Dockerfile templating for complex build scenarios](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/efficient-dockerfile-templating-for-complex-build-scenarios-27715.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://gagor.pro/2025/01/efficient-dockerfile-templating-for-complex-build-scenarios/>)

Author: Tom

Published: 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [Tomasz Gągor](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/tomasz-gagor.md>)

Topics: [Dockerfile](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/dockerfile.md>), [Docker](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/docker.md>), [Docker Image](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/docker-image.md>), [configuration](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/configuration.md>)

Tags: [alpine](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/alpine.md>), [base-images](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/base-images.md>), [best-practices](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/best-practices.md>), [build](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/build.md>), [dependencies](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/dependencies.md>), [devops](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/devops.md>), [docker](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/docker.md>), [docker-base-images](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/docker-base-images.md>), [dockerfiles](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/dockerfiles.md>), [go](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/go.md>), [infra](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/infra.md>), [java](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/java.md>), [linux](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/linux.md>), [scm](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/scm.md>), [sre](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/sre.md>), [ubuntu](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ubuntu.md>)

## AI overview

This article explains why Dockerfile templating can help maintain complex Docker base-image variants. It discusses combinations of operating systems, Tomcat versions, Java versions, configurations, and package names, along with the differing responsibilities of development and infrastructure teams.

## Source excerpt

Why even consider templating Dockerfiles? Dockerfiles revolutionized the industry with their simplicity. Each instruction creates a new layer in the image, which is automatically cached. This process integrates well with SCM, where you "commit" the results of one stage and move forward with other changes. The process can be easily parameterized with ARG instructions, similar to ENV but provided during the build. This allows for creating highly flexible builds. For most users, this is more than sufficient. However, there's a notable exception: Docker base images.