What’s
cool about
Python?
What’s
DevOps?
Why software
development skills
are important?
Be in the
know
Play now ››
What’s
cool about
Python?
What’s
DevOps?
Why software
development skills
are important?
Be in the
know
Step inside and uncover all the ways that programmers and developers enable positive change in the way IT departments look, act and get noticed.
What’s
cool about
Python?
Easy to
learn
Object-oriented
programming
(OOP)
Infrastructure
as code
Start
learning
There’s a lot to love about this uncluttered language. Here we share our top picks on what makes Python really cool:
Because there’s no crazy syntax and structure like other languages.
Look how readable it is:
Notice the indented portion that begins on the next line after the colon. Python expects this indented portion to contain all the code that makes up the function.
As you can imagine, a big file with thousands of lines of code would be difficult to work with.
Enter OOP (Object-Oriented Programming):
OOP’s goal is to build modular software that breaks up code into smaller pieces
Each piece (or module) is self-contained, so changes to one don’t affect others
Offers the representation of infrastructure through machine-readable files that can be reproduced over and over. This means that any organization’s infrastructure can be treated like source code, spinning up new infrastructure whenever needed.
Amazing, isn’t it? How it came to be:
Cloud computing makes infrastructure available almost instantaneously
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) allow cloud infrastructure to be automated
With a solid knowledge of Python, you can go places and watch doors open at every turn. Start learning today by taking Networking Academy’s self-paced course:
It’s for those who have no prior experience. And best of all, it provides the perfect programming environment right from your browser.
What’s
DevOps?
Types of
jobs
Associate to
professional
certifications
Soundbites
from official DevNet
Cert Guide
Take
course
Developers and operations teams have different expectations:
Developers care about functional code, libraries and Agile sprints
Whereas operations teams care about keeping the environment stable and ensuring backup processes work
Today, these two areas must work together for the greater good of the business. DevOps was created in the spirit of new collaboration—and to quicken time-to-market for new services.
Good jobs are waiting for you if you pursue this field and achieve your Cisco DevNet Associate certification.
Imagine yourself as:
Jr/Entry-level Developer
Jr/Entry-level Software Engineer
Jr/Entry-level Applications Developer
Jr/Entry-level Automation Engineer
Jr/Entry-level Cloud Developer
Associate Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)
Jr/Entry-level DevOps Engineer
Test Development Engineer
All these positions lead to good salaries too!
With DevOps being such an important role in the new, more agile IT department, those with a certification almost have a “golden ticket” to greater success:
97% of organizations offer recognition for employees earning technical certifications1
99% of organizations use technical certifications to make hiring decisions2
71% of hiring managers say that certs increase their confidence in an applicant’s abilities3
IT professionals who gained new skills or certs last year received an average salary raise of $12,000-$13,0004
Aspire to these Cisco Certified Certifications:
DevNet Associate
(the path to a career)
DevNet Professional
(the ability to select a core technology track)
Sources
1 Learning@Cisco Tech Manager Survey
2 Learning@Cisco Tech Manager Survey
3 2018 IDC WW IT Employment Model Future of IT Survey
4 2020 IT Skills and Salary Report, Global Knowledge
If you want to pursue the exciting world of DevOps, studying for your Cisco Certified DevNet Associate Certification will be key.
What better way to introduce you to some of the guide’s topics than give you a listen to what we liked best!
Learn modern development and engineering skills right here, right now.
Through Networking Academy’s DevNet Associate course, you’ll be able to:
Why software
development skills
are important?
The Agile
Manifesto
40% finished
product brings
100% finished code
The secret
of APIs
Job
outlook
Thanks to the cloud offering accessible infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and automation tools that can programmatically manage servers, network devices and services safely, IT departments are in much better hands.
It’s these hands—the hands of professional programmers and developers—who make this integration happen and make IT a revenue-generator.
Tired of inflexibility, Agile pioneers created the Manifesto for Agile software development, which certifies the guiding principle for Agile development.
This became a lightning rod to enable faster, more efficient and agile processes.
Developing software in Agile results in a different output than the slow, serial manner used in Waterfall:
With Waterfall, project isn’t finished until the very end
With Agile, the timeframe is shortened into 2 weeks or sprints (enough time to finish a feature)
Therefore, pieces of code matter
For communicating with and configuring networks, software developers use Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). APIs are mechanisms to communicate with apps and other software.
They’re also used to communicate with various components of a network through software.
While some call them “secrets,”
we call them brilliant!
By 2023, number of Python developers will reach 27.7M1
Python developers are now among the highest-paid programmers in the tech industry (at any one time, there are upwards of 100,000 unfulfilled Python developer jobs around the world)2
Cisco’s Networking Academy Talent Bridge Matching Engine has over 650 employers from around the world ready to match your skills with their jobs (another reason to begin your journey)
Jobs where Python is essentialSoftware engineer and developer
Writes programs
Machine learning (ML) engineer
Creates, supports algorithms that make predictions based on data
AI engineer
Uses ML to create algorithms that mimic human intelligence
DevOps engineer
Does a little of everything
Full stack developer
Deals with both front-end and back-end of apps
Data scientist
Turns big data into something useful
Tester
Code checker
More to know
Start
practicing
Linux BASH
commands & tips
Programming
Punch-Out:
Python vs C++
Test your
vocabulary
Everything you learn can help develop you into the professional you imagine for yourself.
So, get started—and get excited by browsing these additional resources.
Linux has taken over the development world. Born Again Shell (BASH) is a shell for command processing. The beauty of BASH is that you, as a programmer, can use it to input commands that the OS will interpret and perform.
Here are the commands you will use most often:
cd
changes directories and moves around files
pwd
allows you to print current working directory path
Is
gives you a list of current directory
mkdir
creates a directory (permissions apply)
cp
copies a file or folder
mv
moves a file or folder (and can rename it)
rm
deletes file or directory
touch
creates a file or changes timestamp
cat
views or creates files and pipes to other commands
env
shows currently set environment variables
To access help for any command, type man then command. Piping is the most powerful feature (letting you string together commands).
Which language is best? Watch for yourself as they both take to the boxing ring.
There are so many abbreviations for protocols, interfaces and apps in the infrastructure automation space. Here we share a few so that you can show your intelligence:
API
– Application Programming Interface
ACI
– Application Centric Infrastructure
APIC
– Application Policy Infrastructure Controller
DaaS
– Data as a Service
FTP
– File Transfer Protocol
IaaS
– Infrastructure as a Service
IP
– Internet Protocol
NETCONF
– Network Configuration Protocol
pyATS
– Python Automated Test System
PEP
– Python Enhancement Proposals
REST
– Representational State Transfer
RESTCONF
– REST-like interface to NETCONF/YANG interface
SNMP
– Simple Network Management Protocol
SaaS
– Software as a Service
SDN
– Software-defined Networking
YANG
– Yet Another Next Generation
We hope this information was helpful and enlightening—showing you that programmers are at the heart of what’s possible in the IT arena. And the enabler of continued innovation.
Thanks for exploring this topic with us!