Which method should you use to easily move an application from a development environment to a production environment without duplicating the operating system?

Using containers is an effective method for moving an application from a development environment to a production environment without duplicating the operating system. This technique leverages containerization technology, which allows applications to run in isolated environments that share the same operating system kernel but maintain their own user space. Containers package the application along with all its dependencies, ensuring that it behaves the same regardless of the environment it is deployed in.

By utilizing containers, developers can ensure consistency and eliminate the "it works on my machine" problem, as the application will run in the same environment across different stages of development, testing, and production. This approach significantly reduces overhead, as containers are lightweight and start almost instantly compared to traditional virtual machines, making them ideal for microservices architectures and cloud deployments.

While VM cloning and virtualization are viable options for moving applications, they typically involve more overhead because they require duplicating the entire operating system along with the application, which is not as efficient as containerization. Scripts can automate deployment processes but do not inherently solve the issue of creating isolated, consistent environments like containers do.