Which component offers advantages like portability and scalability for cloud-native applications?

Containers are a fundamental technology that enables the development and deployment of cloud-native applications with significant advantages, particularly in terms of portability and scalability.

Portability refers to the ability to run the applications across different computing environments. Containers package an application along with its dependencies, libraries, and configuration files into a single unit. This self-contained nature allows developers to easily move and deploy applications across various environments—whether they are on local machines for testing, on-premises data centers, or in different cloud infrastructures. This level of portability is crucial for organizations that utilize multi-cloud strategies or wish to avoid vendor lock-in.

Scalability in the context of containers comes from their lightweight architecture and rapid deployment capabilities. Containers share the host operating system's kernel, making them more efficient in terms of resource utilization compared to traditional virtual machines, which require separate operating systems. This efficiency allows organizations to spin up or down container instances quickly in response to traffic spikes or demand fluctuations, ensuring that applications can scale dynamically to meet user needs.

While virtual machines and serverless computing also play roles in cloud computing, they do not offer the same combination of lightweight, portable, and scalability features that containers do. Microservices architecture can enhance application scalability and maintainability, but it is the container technology