简单地说，如果一个图像是一个类，那么容器就是一个类的实例，一个运行时对象。

Docker容器正在运行一个映像的实例。你可以将图像与程序关联起来，将容器与进程关联起来:)

对于一个虚拟的编程类比，你可以认为Docker有一个抽象的ImageFactory，它保存着它们来自存储的ImageFactory。

然后，一旦你想从ImageFactory中创建一个应用程序，你就有了一个新的容器，你可以随心所欲地修改它。DotNetImageFactory将是不可变的，因为它作为一个抽象工厂类，在那里它只交付您想要的实例。

IContainer newDotNetApp = ImageFactory.DotNetImageFactory.CreateNew(appOptions);
newDotNetApp.ChangeDescription("I am making changes on this instance");
newDotNetApp.Run();

虽然将容器看作一个运行的映像是最简单的，但这并不十分准确。

An image is really a template that can be turned into a container. To turn an image into a container, the Docker engine takes the image, adds a read-write filesystem on top and initialises various settings including network ports, container name, ID and resource limits. A running container has a currently executing process, but a container can also be stopped (or exited in Docker's terminology). An exited container is not the same as an image, as it can be restarted and will retain its settings and any filesystem changes.

在编程方面，

图片是源代码。

当编译和构建源代码时，它被称为应用程序。

类似于“当为映像创建实例时”，它被称为“容器”。

我想用以下类比来说明:

+-----------------------------+-------+-----------+
|             Domain          | Meta  | Concrete  |
+-----------------------------+-------+-----------+
| Docker                      | Image | Container |
| Object oriented programming | Class | Object    |
+-----------------------------+-------+-----------+