diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
index 29363553a..812bcc083 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ RUN apt-get update && \
     gnupg \
     build-essential \
     cmake \
+    ccache \
     clang \
     pkg-config \
     python3 \
@@ -54,6 +55,11 @@ RUN apt-get update && \
     && apt-get clean \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
+# Install the memory-/core-aware build parallelism helper. It is used during
+# dependency installation and may also be sourced by development scripts and
+# interactive shells.
+COPY .devcontainer/scripts/parallelism.sh /usr/local/share/qdk/parallelism.sh
+
 # Install C++ dependencies
 COPY .devcontainer/scripts/install_cpp_dependencies.sh /tmp/install_cpp_dependencies.sh
 COPY cpp/manifest/qdk-chemistry/cgmanifest.json /tmp/cpp_cgmanifest.json
@@ -62,7 +68,7 @@ COPY external/macis/manifest/cgmanifest.json /tmp/macis_cgmanifest.json
 # Delete build directory after installation
 ENV KEEP_BUILD_DIR=0
 RUN bash /tmp/install_cpp_dependencies.sh /tmp/cpp_cgmanifest.json /tmp/macis_cgmanifest.json && \
-     rm /tmp/install_cpp_dependencies.sh /tmp/cpp_cgmanifest.json /tmp/macis_cgmanifest.json
+    rm /tmp/install_cpp_dependencies.sh /tmp/cpp_cgmanifest.json /tmp/macis_cgmanifest.json
 
 # Create/align the non-root user and group (safe for repeated builds)
 RUN if getent group "$USER_GID" >/dev/null; then \
@@ -89,3 +95,23 @@ USER $USERNAME
 
 # Setup bash prompt
 RUN echo 'export PS1="\[\033[1;34m\]\u@qdk-dev:\w$ \[\033[0m\]"' >> ~/.bashrc
+
+# Create the Python virtual environment and pre-install workspace-independent
+# Python dev dependencies.
+ENV VIRTUAL_ENV=/home/$USERNAME/qdk_chemistry_venv \
+    PATH=/home/$USERNAME/qdk_chemistry_venv/bin:$PATH
+
+RUN python -m venv "$VIRTUAL_ENV" \
+    && pip install --no-cache-dir --upgrade pip setuptools wheel \
+    && pip install --no-cache-dir \
+    "ipykernel>=6.0" \
+    "pandas>=2.0.0" \
+    "pre-commit>=4.6,<5" \
+    "rdkit" \
+    && echo "source $VIRTUAL_ENV/bin/activate" >> ~/.bashrc
+
+# Set the safe CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL for interactive shells
+RUN echo "source /usr/local/share/qdk/parallelism.sh" >> ~/.bashrc
+
+# Make user-local C++ installations discoverable
+ENV CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/home/$USERNAME/.local
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer-lock.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer-lock.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9dbb8ff3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer-lock.json
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+{
+  "features": {
+    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/git:1": {
+      "version": "1.3.5",
+      "resolved": "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/git@sha256:27905dc196c01f77d6ba8709cb82eeaf330b3b108772e2f02d1cd0d826de1251",
+      "integrity": "sha256:27905dc196c01f77d6ba8709cb82eeaf330b3b108772e2f02d1cd0d826de1251"
+    },
+    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/node:1": {
+      "version": "1.7.1",
+      "resolved": "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/node@sha256:8c0de46939b61958041700ee89e3493f3b2e4131a06dc46b4d9423427d06e5f6",
+      "integrity": "sha256:8c0de46939b61958041700ee89e3493f3b2e4131a06dc46b4d9423427d06e5f6"
+    },
+    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/rust:1": {
+      "version": "1.5.0",
+      "resolved": "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/rust@sha256:0c55e65f2e3df736e478f26ee4d5ed41bae6b54dac1318c443e31444c8ed283c",
+      "integrity": "sha256:0c55e65f2e3df736e478f26ee4d5ed41bae6b54dac1318c443e31444c8ed283c"
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
index 412ed3be0..66c3c7124 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -20,12 +20,12 @@
                 "ms-toolsai.jupyter"
             ],
             "settings": {
-                "python.defaultInterpreterPath": "/usr/local/bin/python",
+                "python.defaultInterpreterPath": "${containerEnv:VIRTUAL_ENV}/bin/python",
                 "python.formatting.provider": "none",
                 "editor.formatOnSave": true,
                 "editor.codeActionsOnSave": {
-                    "source.fixAll.ruff": true,
-                    "source.organizeImports.ruff": true
+                    "source.fixAll.ruff": "explicit",
+                    "source.organizeImports.ruff": "explicit"
                 },
                 "python.linting.enabled": true,
                 "python.linting.lintOnSave": true,
@@ -55,16 +55,26 @@
                 "C_Cpp.codeAnalysis.clangTidy.runAutomatically": true,
                 "C_Cpp.formatting": "clangFormat",
                 "C_Cpp.clang_format_style": "file",
-                "C_Cpp.clang_format_fallbackStyle": "Google"
+                "C_Cpp.clang_format_fallbackStyle": "Google",
+                "C_Cpp.default.cppStandard": "c++20",
+                "cmake.buildType": "Debug"
             }
         }
     },
     "features": {
-        "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/git:1": {}
+        "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/git:1": {},
+        "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/node:1": {
+            "version": "lts"
+        },
+        "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/rust:1": {
+            "version": "stable",
+            "profile": "default"
+        }
     },
     "remoteEnv": {
-        "CPATH": "${containerEnv:CPATH}:/usr/include/hdf5/serial:/usr/include/eigen3"
+        "CPATH": "${containerEnv:CPATH}:/usr/include/hdf5/serial:/usr/include/eigen3",
+        "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "Debug"
     },
-    "postCreateCommand": "bash .devcontainer/scripts/venv.sh",
+    "postCreateCommand": "bash .devcontainer/scripts/post_create.sh",
     "remoteUser": "vscode"
 }
diff --git a/.devcontainer/scripts/install_cpp_dependencies.sh b/.devcontainer/scripts/install_cpp_dependencies.sh
index d7e32aca8..07d88660b 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/scripts/install_cpp_dependencies.sh
+++ b/.devcontainer/scripts/install_cpp_dependencies.sh
@@ -37,13 +37,30 @@ BUILD_DIR="${BUILD_DIR:-/tmp/qdk_deps_build}"
 INSTALL_PREFIX="${INSTALL_PREFIX:-/usr/local}"
 BUILD_TYPE="${BUILD_TYPE:-Release}"
 BUILD_SHARED_LIBS="${BUILD_SHARED_LIBS:-OFF}"  # Default to static
-LIBINT_JOBS=${LIBINT_JOBS:-4}  # Limit libint build jobs to 4 due to high memory usage
+
 KEEP_BUILD_DIR="${KEEP_BUILD_DIR:-0}"
-if command -v nproc >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    JOBS=$(nproc) # Linux
+
+PARALLELISM_HELPER="/usr/local/share/qdk/parallelism.sh"
+if [ -f "$PARALLELISM_HELPER" ]; then
+    # shellcheck source=/dev/null
+    source "$PARALLELISM_HELPER"
+fi
+
+if command -v parallel_jobs_for_memory >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    # Use the parallelism helper to determine job counts based on memory
+    JOBS="${JOBS:-$(parallel_jobs_for_memory 1)}"
+    LIBINT_JOBS="${LIBINT_JOBS:-$(parallel_jobs_for_memory 4)}"
 else
-    JOBS=$(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu) # macOS
+    # Fallback when helper is unavailable
+    if command -v nproc >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        DEFAULT_JOBS=$(nproc) # Linux
+    else
+        DEFAULT_JOBS=$(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu) # macOS
+    fi
+    JOBS="${JOBS:-$DEFAULT_JOBS}"
+    LIBINT_JOBS="${LIBINT_JOBS:-4}"
 fi
+
 MAC_BUILD="OFF"
 if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* ]]; then
     MAC_BUILD="ON"
@@ -224,7 +241,6 @@ cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE="$BUILD_TYPE" \
          -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="$INSTALL_PREFIX" \
          -DCMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE=ON \
          -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS="$BUILD_SHARED_LIBS"
-# libint's compilation is memory intensive so parallel jobs are limited to 4 to prevent OOM errors
 make -j"$LIBINT_JOBS"
 make install
 cd "$BUILD_DIR"
diff --git a/.devcontainer/scripts/parallelism.sh b/.devcontainer/scripts/parallelism.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7d883b065
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/scripts/parallelism.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+# shellcheck shell=bash
+#
+# This file is intended to be sourced.
+#
+# It provides:
+# - parallel_jobs_for_memory()
+# - a default CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL (unless already set)
+#
+# parallel_jobs_for_memory <memory_per_job_gb>
+#
+# Compute a safe parallel job count based on available RAM and CPU cores.
+#
+# Result:
+#   min(cpu_cores, floor(total_ram_gb / memory_per_job_gb))
+#
+# with a minimum value of 1.
+#
+parallel_jobs_for_memory() {
+    local memory_per_job_gb="$1"
+    local cores mem_bytes jobs
+
+    if [ -r /proc/meminfo ] && command -v nproc >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        # Linux
+        cores=$(nproc)
+        mem_bytes=$(awk '/MemTotal/ {print $2 * 1024}' /proc/meminfo)
+    else
+        # macOS (or other non-/proc environments)
+        cores=$(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu)
+        mem_bytes=$(sysctl -n hw.memsize)
+    fi
+
+    # If running inside a cgroup with a memory limit, respect it.
+    local cgroup_limit_bytes=""
+    if [ -r /sys/fs/cgroup/memory.max ]; then
+        cgroup_limit_bytes="$(cat /sys/fs/cgroup/memory.max)"                    # cgroup v2
+    elif [ -r /sys/fs/cgroup/memory/memory.limit_in_bytes ]; then
+        cgroup_limit_bytes="$(cat /sys/fs/cgroup/memory/memory.limit_in_bytes)"  # cgroup v1
+    fi
+    if [[ "$cgroup_limit_bytes" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] && (( cgroup_limit_bytes > 0 )) && (( cgroup_limit_bytes < mem_bytes )); then
+        mem_bytes="$cgroup_limit_bytes"
+    fi
+
+    # tiny overhead to get common cases correct (e.g., 15.9GB RAM, 8GB per job -> 2 jobs)
+    mem_bytes=$(( mem_bytes * 103 / 100 ))
+
+    jobs=$(( mem_bytes / (memory_per_job_gb * 1024 * 1024 * 1024) ))
+
+    (( jobs < 1 )) && jobs=1
+    (( jobs > cores )) && jobs=$cores
+
+    echo "$jobs"
+}
+
+if [ -z "${CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL:-}" ]; then
+    export CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL="$(parallel_jobs_for_memory 8)"
+fi
diff --git a/.devcontainer/scripts/post_create.sh b/.devcontainer/scripts/post_create.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c45c37155
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/scripts/post_create.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Post-create step: install QDK Chemistry from the mounted source.
+set -euo pipefail
+source "$HOME/qdk_chemistry_venv/bin/activate"
+
+# Set a memory-/core-aware CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL (unless already set) so the
+# initial build below does not oversubscribe CPU or OOM on constrained machines.
+source /usr/local/share/qdk/parallelism.sh
+
+# Build C++ and install to a user-local prefix.
+# Use the in-tree macis (external/macis) per INSTALL.md; prevents a
+# full rebuild on reconfigure.
+cmake -S cpp -B cpp/build -G Ninja \
+    -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="$HOME/.local" \
+    -DCMAKE_DISABLE_FIND_PACKAGE_macis=ON
+cmake --build cpp/build
+cmake --install cpp/build
+
+# Install python library
+cd ./python
+pip install -v .[all]
diff --git a/.devcontainer/scripts/venv.sh b/.devcontainer/scripts/venv.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index 28d16c59f..000000000
--- a/.devcontainer/scripts/venv.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-python -m venv $HOME/qdk_chemistry_venv
-source $HOME/qdk_chemistry_venv/bin/activate
-
-pip install --upgrade pip
-
-# Install node
-export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
-mkdir -p $NVM_DIR
-wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.3/install.sh | bash
-source $NVM_DIR/nvm.sh && nvm install node && nvm use node
-
-# Install Rust
-curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y
-source $HOME/.cargo/env
-which rustc
-
-# Install ipykernel
-pip install ipykernel pandas pre-commit rdkit
-
-# Install QDK Chemistry package
-cd ./python
-export CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL=2
-QDK_UARCH=native pip install -v .[all]
-
-# Add venv to bash
-echo "source $HOME/qdk_chemistry_venv/bin/activate" >> $HOME/.bashrc
diff --git a/INSTALL.md b/INSTALL.md
index bdfdc7d5d..342a71854 100644
--- a/INSTALL.md
+++ b/INSTALL.md
@@ -125,6 +125,10 @@ Alternatively, click the green button in the bottom-left corner of VS Code and s
 
 After the initial build, restart VS Code and reopen in the container to ensure the Python virtual environment is properly loaded.
 
+### Step 4: Develop
+
+The dev container builds the C++ library and links it to the Python package in separate steps, as shown in `.devcontainer/scripts/post_create.sh`. After changing the source code, you need to rebuild and install accordingly.
+
 **NOTE:**
 
 - The first build can take up to two hours on slower systems.