Using nix develop (without -c) to get a development shell has some advantages over docker. It layers over your existing environment (unless you don't want it to

Using nix develop (without -c) to get a development shell has some advantages over docker. It layers over your existing environment (unless you don't want it to) so you can still access things like git from the same shell. With docker you either add it to your build deps or do some stuff inside docker and some stuff outside. It also builds your environment on demand rather than having to manage the two step thing of building the image and then making sure you're using the right one. I've found this much more flexible and convenient than anything with docker.