a few cleanup details

Dockerfile

@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 # if you're doing anything beyond your local machine, please pin this to a specific version at https://hub.docker.com/_/node/
+# FROM node:8-alpine also works here for a smaller image
 FROM node:8
 
-RUN mkdir -p /opt/app
-
 # set our node environment, either development or production
 # defaults to production, compose overrides this to development on build and run
 ARG NODE_ENV=production
@@ -14,12 +13,13 @@ ENV PORT $PORT
 EXPOSE $PORT 9229 9230
 
 # you'll likely want the latest npm, reguardless of node version, for speed and fixes
+# but pin this version for the best stability
 RUN npm i npm@latest -g
 
 # install dependencies first, in a different location for easier app bind mounting for local development
 WORKDIR /opt
 COPY package.json package-lock.json* ./
-RUN npm install && npm cache clean --force
+RUN npm install --no-optional && npm cache clean --force
 ENV PATH /opt/node_modules/.bin:$PATH
 
 # check every 30s to ensure this service returns HTTP 200

README.md

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
  - **Enable debug from host to container**. opens the inspect port 9229 for using host-based debugging like chrome tools or VS Code. Nodemon enables `--inspect` by default in docker-compose.
  - **Provides VSCode debug configs and tasks for tests**. for Visual Studio Code fans, `.vscode` directory has the goods, thanks to @JPLemelin.
  - **Small image and quick re-builds**. `COPY` in `package.json` and run `npm install` **before** `COPY` in your source code. This saves big on build time and keep container lean.
- - **Bind-mount package.json**. This allows adding packages in realtime without rebuilding images. e.g. `dce node npm install --save <package name>`
+ - **Bind-mount package.json**. This allows adding packages in realtime without rebuilding images. e.g. `dce node npm install --save <package name>` (dosn't work on all systems)
 
 
 ### Production-minded Features