doc: update devcontainer.json and add documentation

The previous .devcontainer.json configuration was outdated and
contained personal configurations that were not needed to run a
dev container. This updates the structure so that it's put in
.devcontainer/base/devcontainer.json based on the recommended
setup in GitHub's documentation. The official image now publishes
both arm64 and amd64 images, and devcontainer tools should be
able to pick up the right one without extra arguments.

This also adds documentation on how to use the container.

Refs: https://docs.github.com/en/codespaces/setting-up-your-project-for-codespaces/adding-a-dev-container-configuration/introduction-to-dev-containers#devcontainerjson

Author: joyeecheung

.devcontainer.json

@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+{
+  "name": "Node.js Dev Container",
+  "image": "nodejs/devcontainer:nightly",
+  "workspaceMount": "source=${localWorkspaceFolder},target=/home/developer/nodejs/node,type=bind,consistency=cached",
+  "workspaceFolder": "/home/developer/nodejs/node",
+  "remoteUser": "developer",
+  "mounts": [
+    "source=node-devcontainer-cache,target=/home/developer/nodejs/node/out,type=volume"
+  ],
+  "postCreateCommand": "git restore-mtime"
+}

.devcontainer/base/devcontainer.json

@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 .*
 # Exclude specific dotfiles that we want to track.
 !deps/**/.*
-!.devcontainer.json
 !test/fixtures/**/.*
 !.clang-format
 !.cpplint
@@ -167,3 +166,10 @@ __pycache__
 
 # === Rules for C++ development ===
 compile_commands.json
+
+# === Dev Container rules ===
+# Only track the shared base devcontainer.json; ignore everything else under .devcontainer
+!.devcontainer/
+.devcontainer/**
+!.devcontainer/base/
+!.devcontainer/base/devcontainer.json

.gitignore

@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+# Developing Node.js using Dev Containers
+
+[Dev Containers](https://containers.dev/) allows development inside a containerized environment, ensuring
+consistency across different development setups.
+
+Node.js provides a [nightly Dev Container image](https://hub.docker.com/r/nodejs/devcontainer) that can
+be used to set up a development environment quickly and enable incremental compilation based on nightly builds.
+Most of the times, if you only have some changes in the main branch and do not need to change the V8 headers
+(which is rare), using the nightly image will allow you to compile your changes from a fresh checkout
+in a few seconds instead of spending tens of minutes or even hours to compile the entire codebase from scratch.
+The Dev Container also allows you to test your changes in a different operating system, and to test
+third-party code from bug reports safely with your work-in-progress Node.js branches in an isolated environment.
+
+This guide will walk you through the steps to set up a Dev Container for Node.js development using
+[Visual Studio Code (VS Code)](https://code.visualstudio.com/).
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed on your machine:
+
+* [Docker](https://www.docker.com/get-started)
+* [Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/)
+* [Dev Containers extension for VS Code](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers)
+
+## Setting Up the Dev Container
+
+### 1. Clone the Node.js Repository
+
+If you haven't already, clone the Node.js repository to your local machine.
+
+```bash
+git clone https://github.com/nodejs/node.git
+```
+
+### 2. Open the Repository in VS Code
+
+Launch VS Code and open the cloned Node.js repository.
+
+### 3. Start the Dev Container
+
+* Press `Ctrl+Shift+P` or `Cmd+Shift+P` to open the command palette.
+* Type `Dev Containers: Reopen in Container` and select it.
+* Select the appropriate Dev Container configuration from the drop down. The base configuration in this
+  repository is `Node.js Dev Container` located in
+  [`.devcontainer/base/devcontainer.json`](../../.devcontainer/base/devcontainer.json), which should be
+  automatically detected by VS Code.
+
+### 4. Wait for the Container to Build
+
+VS Code will build the Dev Container based on the configuration file. This may take some time depending
+on your internet connection and system performance.
+
+After the container is built, it will start automatically. By default it will run `git restore-mtime` to
+restore the modification times of the files in the working directory, in order to keep the build cache valid,
+and you will see something like this in the terminal.
+
+```text
+Running the postCreateCommand from devcontainer.json...
+
+[10136 ms] Start: Run in container: /bin/sh -c git restore-mtime
+```
+
+This may take a few seconds. Wait until it finishes before you open a new terminal.
+
+### 5. Build your changes
+
+Once the container is running, you can open a terminal in VS Code and run the build commands. By default, your
+local repository is mounted inside a checkout in the container, so any changes you make will be reflected in
+the container environment.
+
+In the Dev Container, the necessary dependencies are already installed. For better developer experience, the
+build tool used in the Dev Container is `ninja`, instead of `make`. See
+[Building Node.js with Ninja](./building-node-with-ninja.md) for more details on using `ninja` to build Node.js.
+
+```bash
+./configure --ninja
+ninja -C out/Release
+```
+
+As long as your local checkout is not too different from the main branch in the nightly image, the build
+should be incremental and fast.
+
+### 6. Leaving the Container
+
+When you're done working in the Dev Container, open the command palette again and select
+`Dev Containers: Reopen Folder locally` to go back to your local development environment.
+
+## Customizing the Dev Container
+
+The default configuration is located in
+[`.devcontainer/base/devcontainer.json`](../../.devcontainer/base/devcontainer.json) which pairs with the
+official [Node.js Nightly Dev Container image](https://github.com/nodejs/devcontainer).
+This is tracked in version control. You can create a personal configuration by creating a new
+directory in `.devcontainer/` and adding a `devcontainer.json` file there (for example,
+`.devcontainer/local/devcontainer.json`), and configure VS Code to use it.
+
+## Rebuilding the Dev Container
+
+Docker will cache the already downloaded Dev Container images. If you wish to pull a new nightly image, you can do
+so by running the following command in the terminal on your host machine:
+
+```bash
+docker pull nodejs/devcontainer:nightly
+```
+
+The default configuration creates a volume to cache the build outputs between container restarts. If you wish to clear
+the build cache, you can do so by deleting the volume named `node-devcontainer-cache`.
+
+```bash
+docker volume rm node-devcontainer-cache
+```
+
+To rebuild the container in VS Code, open the command palette and select
+`Dev Containers: Rebuild and Reopen in Container`.
+
+## Further Reading
+
+* [Visual Studio Code Dev Containers Documentation](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/remote/containers)
+* If you want to propose changes to the official nightly Dev Container image, the repository is
+  [nodejs/devcontainer](https://github.com/nodejs/devcontainer) which contains the nightly workflows and
+  the Dockerfile.