conteneurs

Conteneurs is a French term used to describe both physical containers for storage and transport and, in information technology, software containers. In logistics, shipping containers are standardized steel boxes designed for intermodal transport, enabling goods to be moved between ships, trucks and trains without unloading. The system reshaped global trade by introducing uniform dimensions, fittings and handling practices that reduce loading times and cargo damage.

Standard shipping containers typically come in 20-foot and 40-foot lengths, with high-cube variants that are taller. They are usually made of steel and feature corner castings for stacking and securing, as well as doors with seals to provide weatherproofing. Refrigerated containers, or reefers, enable temperature-controlled transport for perishables. Containers are designed for efficient intermodal movement, with rapid transfer between modes and standardized palletized loads, contributing to reduced costs and emissions in freight transport.

Software containers, the IT use of the term, provide lightweight isolation of applications on a host operating system. A container image packages an application and its dependencies, and containers can be started and moved across environments with minimal overhead. Docker, Kubernetes and similar tools have driven widespread adoption, supporting microservice architectures, scalable deployment and reproducible environments. Containers differ from virtual machines in granularity and startup time, requiring attention to security, storage, and orchestration practices.