What are the differences between "docker" commands and management commands?

The "docker" client tool supports two sets of commands:

1. Management Commands - A "docker" management command is actually a group of sub-commands that can be used to manage a single data entity used by the Docker Engine.

For example, "docker container ..." is a group of sub-commands to manage containers on the Docker Engine.

2. (Regular) Commands - A "docker" regular command is a command that performs a single task on a specific data entity used by the Docker Engine.

A regular command is usually a short-hand format of a sub-command of a management command. For example, regular command "docker ps" is a short-hand format of the "docker container list" sub-command of the "docker container" management command.

Here is mapping of some regular commands to management sub-commands:

docker ps      docker container list
docker start   docker container start
docker stop    docker container stop
docker run     docker container run
docker exec    docker container exec
docker attach  docker container attach
docker build   docker container build

⇒ "docker help" Commands

⇐ What Is Docker Client (or CLI)

⇑ Docker Client (or CLI)

⇑⇑ Docker Container Platform - Tutorials