You might get away with the docker version if you can use existing plugins or theme components to perform the required customisations (there’s a lot of existing stuff you can use without getting too dirty - take a look through the plugin and theme categories).
Otherwise you need to look at developing your own plugin as pfaffman suggests.
You don’t even need to install dev locally btw - I use a cloud server.
More of my tips on getting started with plugin dev here: