feat: added devcontainers

.devcontainer/Dockerfile

@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+FROM openjdk:21-jdk-slim
+
+LABEL org.opencontainers.image.source=https://github.com/projectnessie/nessie
+LABEL org.opencontainers.image.description="Nessie Development Container"
+LABEL org.opencontainers.image.licenses=Apache-2.0
+
+ENV LANGUAGE='en_US:en'
+ENV JAVA_HOME=/usr/local/openjdk-21
+ENV PATH="${JAVA_HOME}/bin:${PATH}"
+
+# note "invalid signature encountered" is a common error when out of disk space or no internet
+RUN apt-get update && \
+    apt-get install -y \
+    git \
+    curl \
+    wget \
+    findutils \
+    tar \
+    gzip \
+    unzip \
+    procps && \
+    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+# will need docker/podman
+RUN curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/static/stable/x86_64/docker-24.0.7.tgz | \
+    tar -xz -C /tmp && \
+    mv /tmp/docker/docker /usr/local/bin/ && \
+    rm -rf /tmp/docker
+
+# Create nessie user for development (matching project's pattern)
+RUN groupadd --gid 10001 nessie && \
+    useradd --uid 10000 --gid nessie --create-home --shell /bin/bash nessie && \
+    usermod -aG sudo nessie && \
+    echo "nessie ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL" >> /etc/sudoers
+
+# Set up workspace directory
+RUN mkdir -p /workspace && \
+    chown -R nessie:nessie /workspace
+
+USER nessie
+WORKDIR /workspace
+
+# verify
+RUN java --version && javac --version
+CMD ["/bin/bash"]

.devcontainer/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+# Nessie Development Container
+
+This directory contains a development container configuration for Project Nessie that provides a consistent, containerized development environment with all necessary tools pre-installed.
+
+## What's Included
+
+- **Java 21 JDK** - Full OpenJDK development environment
+- **Gradle** - Build tool (downloaded automatically via wrapper)
+- **Git** - Version control
+- **Docker CLI** - For container operations
+- **Development tools** - curl, wget, unzip, and other essentials
+- **VS Code extensions** - Java development pack, Gradle support
+- **User setup** - Non-root `nessie` user with sudo access
+
+## Quick Start
+
+### Option 1: VS Code Dev Containers (Recommended)
+
+1. Install the [Dev Containers extension](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers)
+2. Open the project in VS Code
+3. When prompted, click "Reopen in Container" or use `Ctrl+Shift+P` → "Dev Containers: Reopen in Container"
+4. Wait for the container to build and start
+
+### Option 2: Manual Docker Usage
+
+```bash
+# Build the development container
+docker build -f .devcontainer/Dockerfile -t nessie-dev .
+
+# Run a shell in the container
+docker run -it --rm -v $(pwd):/workspace -w /workspace nessie-dev /bin/bash
+
+# Test the setup
+./gradlew --version
+java --version
+```
+
+## Development Workflow
+
+Once in the container, you can use all the standard Nessie [development commands](../CONTRIBUTING.md):
+
+The Nessie server will be available at http://localhost:19120 (automatically forwarded in VS Code).
+
+## Why Use This Dev Container?
+
+This addresses the common issues mentioned in Nessie's contributing docs:
+
+- ✅ **No "development on the metal"** - Everything runs in a safe, isolated container
+- ✅ **Linux-first environment** - Even on macOS/Windows, you get a consistent Linux environment
+- ✅ **No Podman conflicts** - Uses Docker with a standard Debian base
+- ✅ **Pre-configured toolchain** - Java 21, Gradle, and all dependencies ready to go
+- ✅ **VS Code integration** - Full IDE support with proper Java language server setup
+
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+**Container build fails with "At least one invalid signature was encountered."**: You are likely out of disk space (in docker at least), or you have no network connection. Clean out unused containers and images, and try again.

.devcontainer/devcontainer.json

@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+{
+  "name": "Nessie Development",
+  "build": {
+    "dockerfile": "Dockerfile",
+    "context": "."
+  },
+  "features": {
+    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/git:1": {},
+    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/github-cli:1": {}
+  },
+  "customizations": {
+    "vscode": {
+      "extensions": [
+        "vscjava.vscode-java-pack",
+        "redhat.java",
+        "vscjava.vscode-gradle",
+        "ms-vscode.vscode-json"
+      ],
+      "settings": {
+        "java.configuration.runtimes": [
+          {
+            "name": "JavaSE-21",
+            "path": "/usr/local/openjdk-21"
+          }
+        ],
+        "java.compile.nullAnalysis.mode": "automatic"
+      }
+    }
+  },
+  "containerEnv": {
+    "JAVA_HOME": "/usr/local/openjdk-21"
+  },
+  "remoteUser": "nessie",
+  "workspaceFolder": "/workspace",
+  "mounts": [
+    "source=${localWorkspaceFolder},target=/workspace,type=bind,consistency=cached"
+  ],
+  "forwardPorts": [19120],
+  "portsAttributes": {
+    "19120": {
+      "label": "Nessie Server",
+      "onAutoForward": "notify"
+    }
+  },
+  "postCreateCommand": "./gradlew --version",
+  "remoteEnv": {
+    "PATH": "${containerEnv:PATH}:/usr/local/openjdk-21/bin"
+  }
+}

.github/workflows/devcontainer-test.yml

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+name: Devcontainer Build Test
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    # we could be more aggressive with this check, but I also don't want to double dip tests and the rest of CI
+    paths:
+      - '.devcontainer/**'
+
+jobs:
+  build-devcontainer:
+    name: Build and Test Devcontainer
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Build devcontainer image
+        run: |
+          docker build -t nessie-devcontainer -f .devcontainer/Dockerfile .
+
+      - name: Run gradle build in devcontainer
+        run: |
+          docker run --rm \
+            -v "$(pwd)":/workspace \
+            -w /workspace \
+            -u nessie \
+            nessie-devcontainer \
+            ./gradlew jar testClasses

.gitignore

@@ -75,3 +75,6 @@ __pycache__/
 
 # Spark / Hive
 metastore_db/
+
+# Claude AI assistant files
+CLAUDE.md

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -150,6 +150,19 @@ non-obvious platform differences.
 
 TL;DR It is fine to build code on macOS and Windows, but the reference platform is Linux.
 
+#### Development Container
+
+If you prefer not to develop on the metal, Nessie provides a VSCode `devcontainers` development container
+configuration that creates an isolated Linux environment with all required tools pre-installed.
+
+**Quick Start:**
+(Assumes you are using [VS Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/) with the [Dev Containers extension](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers) )
+1. Open the project in VS Code
+2. When prompted, click "Reopen in Container" or use `Ctrl+Shift+P` → "Dev Containers: Reopen in Container"
+3. Wait for the container to build and start developing!
+
+For detailed instructions and manual Docker usage, see [`.devcontainer/README.md`](.devcontainer/README.md).
+
 #### Running tests on macOS
 
 In our CI we use Podman for macOS, initialized using the following sequence of commands,