What role does Docker play in the development and deployment process of applications?

Docker plays a key role in application development and deployment by providing containerization. This means that the application along with all its dependencies is packaged into an isolated container that can be run in any environment without compatibility issues.

Advantages of Docker:

• Consistency of development, testing, and production environments.
• Fast deployment and scaling.
• Simplification of dependency management.

For example, in a C# project, you can create a Dockerfile that describes how to build and run the application in a container, which facilitates portability and automation of deployment.