Alpine Linux has gained great popularity in recent years and is probably the most favored Linux for Docker. Originally designed for routers, it is a secure, fast, feather-light Linux: a basic Alpine base image takes as little as 5 MB, orders of magnitude less than other popular Linux distros. That fact makes it an ideal choice as the base system of Docker images, where small size is desirable, and specifically for OpenJDK Docker images that otherwise take up several hundred MBs.
In this post, I’ll cover my experience in setting up an Alpine Linux workstation for C++ and Java development, with some hopefully useful Alpine know-hows, tips and resources.