Split any "download dependency" steps from the rest of the code copy. I've got an example with benchmarks here: https://github.com/aspnet/aspnet-docker/issues

Split any "download dependency" steps from the rest of the code copy. I've got an example with benchmarks here: https://github.com/aspnet/aspnet-docker/issues/123 https://github.com/aspnet/aspnet-docker/issues/123 old-speed Start: 06:03:13.313 Finish: 06:06:40.640 new-speed Start: 06:00:36:036 Finish: 06:00:45:045 So essentially you copy the package.json or project.json, run dnu restore/ NPM install then copy the rest of the project. COPY ./project.json /app/project.json WORKDIR /app RUN ["dnu", "restore"] COPY . /app EXPOSE 5000/tcp ENTRYPOINT ["dnx", "-p", "project.json", "web"] What this means is that if dependencies don't change the step where you downloaded them will be a cached binary. It makes iteration a LOT faster.