Network operations have not changed in decades. For years, the console, Telnet, and Secure Shell (SSH) along with the CLI were the primary methods for managing and operating networks of any size. With the rise of programmatic interfaces on network devices and the growing need for enhanced reliability, assurance, and predictability, network operations are now in the midst of a radical shift in how devices are deployed and operated. This section reviews how devices have been managed historically and provides a glimpse into the future of network operations.

Network automation is the future of network operation. Today, network engineers need to know how to interact with their network devices using application programming interfaces (APIs) and programmatic interfaces, and at a minimum, they must understand some fundamentals of coding. In this section, you will explore a programming language that is widely used in network automation—Python. You will start by learning different data types that Python supports, and then learn the differences between modules and packages and how to use them to your benefit. Next, you will learn about a module that lets you interact with devices with code. Finally, you will create your own module and interact with the code inside it.