Docker leads to so much win (psql ftw)

Containers are an incredibly effective way to be more productive. I'd put it on the same order of convenience as version control: a bit of effort to learn but each technology allows tremendous flexibility and safety and enjoyment out of programming.

Just now I wanted to verify my backups. I didn't want to run Postgres directly on my macOS, as I'm going to nuke the database after a few tests. So instead I started one in its own container. I ran it on a weird port so I couldn't accidentally use the wrong database/proxy:

$ docker run --name temp_postgres  -p 5555:5432 -d postgres:9.6

Next I verify my new database is up and answering commands:

$ PGPASSWORD='' psql postgresql://postgres@localhost:5555/postgres -c 'select now()'

              now
-------------------------------
 2018-11-16 00:32:31.104194+00
(1 row)

The commands worked on the first try! Now I can go ahead and do my real work of verifying backups, then my task will be finished and I'll move on to the next one. Win!