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An image is an executable package that includes everything needed to run an application–the code, a runtime, libraries, environment variables, and configuration files.
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A container is launched by running an image. A container is a runtime instance of an image–what the image becomes in memory when executed (that is, an image with state, or a user process).
A container runs natively on Linux and shares the kernel of the host machine with other containers. It runs a discrete process, taking no more memory than any other executable, making it lightweight.