Why To Use A Multi-Stage Dockerfile

Single-stage Dockerfiles are simple but ship build tools, dev dependencies, and potential vulnerabilities straight to production. Multi-stage builds fix this by isolating build steps, copying only final artifacts into a lean production image. The result: smaller images, fewer CVEs, faster CI/CD pipelines, and better layer caching — with practical tips on common pitfalls like runtime dependency mismatches and secret leakage.