In order to do something useful with containers, they need to be organized as a part of a project, usually referred to as an application. There are multiple ways of orchestrating a Docker application, but Docker Compose is perhaps the most human-friendly. It is a tool for defining and running multi-container Docker applications. It allows users to launch, execute, communicate and shut containers with one coordinated command.

It makes it easier for users to orchestrate the processes of Docker containers, including starting up, shutting down, and setting up intra-container linking and volumes.