Dev containers are isolated, lightweight environments that provide a pre-configured development environment inside your editor or IDE. They use Docker containers to encapsulate your development environment, ensuring consistency and eliminating setup issues. Dev containers can simplify the setup of your development environment, provide consistency across different machines, eliminate "it works on my machine" problems, and ensure reproducibility. To get started with dev containers, you'll need a code editor that supports them, Docker Desktop installed and running, and a `devcontainer.json` file to define your container environment. You can add tools and runtimes in several ways, including installing them in the Dockerfile, using build arguments, or combining multiple Dockerfiles in `devcontainer.json`. Dev containers also allow you to mount source code into the container, start debugging, and share setup with your team. By addressing common issues and FAQs, you can effectively use dev containers in your development workflow.