What is the primary function of the Docker Engine?

The primary function of the Docker Engine is to enable container management and orchestration. Docker Engine is a client-server application that provides a runtime environment for building, packaging, and distributing containers. It allows developers to easily create containers, which are lightweight and portable units of software that can run consistently across different computing environments.

With Docker Engine, users can manage the lifecycle of containers, including creating, running, stopping, and deleting them. Additionally, it includes an API and command-line interface that facilitates orchestration, allowing multiple containers to be deployed and managed as part of a single application. This orchestration capability is crucial for developing microservices architectures, where applications are composed of multiple independent services, each running in its own container.

In contrast, managing virtual machines involves different tools and architectures, which typically focus on running entire operating systems rather than just the application code. Compiling applications relates to the process of converting source code into executable form, while debugging involves identifying and fixing issues in code. These functions are not the primary scope of what Docker Engine is designed to do.