Network Programmability Foundation

Overview

This section of the exam topics focuses on the skills you will want to be very comfortable with before effectively studying for the remaining product-specific exam topics (in sections 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0).

During our exam preparation we didn't spend a ton of dedicated time on the topics in this section because:

• These particular topics are pretty familiar to us from previous DevNet exam study work (DEVASC, ENAUTO, & DEVCOR)
• We help teach these topics in our free, ongoing, open-to-the-public DevNet Study Group meetings.
• We work with many of the topics daily.

We do, however, remember exactly how we felt when these topics were new to us, and we have plenty of resources to share. Also, we included some general Ansible references that we found helpful in this section, since the exam topics in each of the subsequent sections have an Ansible automation element.

Section 1.0 Topic Details

• 1.1 Utilize common version control operations with git: add, clone, push, commit, diff, branching, merging conflict
• 1.2 Describe characteristics of API styles (REST and RPC)
• 1.3 Describe the challenges encountered and patterns used when consuming APIs synchronously and asynchronously
• 1.4 Interpret Python scripts containing data types, functions, classes, conditions, and looping
• 1.5 Describe the benefits of Python virtual environments
• 1.6 Explain the benefits of using network configuration tools such as Ansible and Puppet for automating data center platforms

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Resources

Cisco DevNet

Learning Labs

• Introduction to DevNet Learning Path
  • Programming Fundamentals Module - All Labs
  • REST API Fundamentals Module - All Labs

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Videos on Demand

WWT Digital Platform

Individual Topics

• Version Control 101

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Pluralsight

Cisco Certified DevNet Associate Certification Path

• Introduction to the Cisco Certified DevNet Associate Certification
• Getting Started with Software Development Using Cisco DevNet
• Managing Cisco Networks via Infrastructure as Code

Individual Courses

• Provisioning and Managing Networks Using Common Automation Tools

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Hands-On Learning

Guided Walkthroughs

• WWT Git Foundations Git Repository
• WWT Docker Foundations Git Repository

Hands-On Labs

• WWT Programmability Foundations Lab

Practice Tools

• Git Visualizer

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Documentation

Code Formatting

• Code Beautifier Tool for JSON, XML, YAML, etc.

Python

• RealPython Virtual Environments Primer
• RealPython Working With JSON Data in Python

Ansible

• Ansible Configuration Files
• Ansible Inventory
• Ansible Variables

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Insights

• Force yourself to use the skills you learn in this section frequently as you study the remaining exam topic sections. Lots of repetition will help you build and retain these skills, and we think it is essential that these skills be second nature to you as you prepare for a certification exam.

• The Cisco DevNet learning labs and WWT guided walk-through exercises are excellent, repeatable learning tools that present content to you in small chunks. You can repeat any or all of this content as many times as you like.

• Our favorite resource to learn this material is Pluralsight. The author of the courses we recommend, Nick Russo, does an absolutely fantastic job of explaining core concepts in a way that we could easily consume. Yes, Pluralsight is a paid resource and we have our own subscriptions. In our opinion, the monthly cost is well worth the price.

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On to Section 2.0

Nice work on the foundational topics! Keep up the good work and click this link to check out Section 2.0 exam topics and resources.