Network engineer looking to improve my skills with some automation

[jaysoft]

Hello all, I'm a Network engineer looking to improve my skills with some automation. will appreciate relevant suggestions to guide me on the right path. thanks all

[Larz60+]

There are two tutorials that I like.
Usually I recommend the second below first, but being a network engineer,
I think you will like the first better (not to discount the second):

Think like a computer scientist
European Python Course

[ankitdixit]

I will provide you with a road map of six skills, to help you become a Network Automation Engineer. Understand that writing Python scripts is a top-notch skill to have as a network engineer. But if your code is not modular, unit tested, with some type of version control then you are liable to do more harm than good to your network.

1. Networking - This should be obvious. Basic networking knowledge is a must. Whether you are writing a python application to monitor network resources or to stand up a tenant in ACI.

2. Learn a Programming Language - The most common network automation programming language is Python! My suggestion is to start there and then you can explore Ruby and Go. One thing to note. Many of the automation tools are running on Linux.

3. Learn How to Write Reusable Code - Now that you have learned a programming language the next skill you need to learn is how to write code that is readable and reusable. What does this mean? It means that, first you write your code in classes and functions so you can accomplish three things: Not repeat yourself, Have the ability to call your methods from other files, Break your code down into smaller functions that do one thing and one thing well.|

4. Unit Tests - I use to despise writing unit tests for my code! Honestly, I still do! And don’t get me started on mocking. But truthfully learning to write unit tests with proper test cases has made me a better coder.

5. REST and APIs - Once you go through all of the steps we mentioned previously. It’s time that you expand your skillset into the realm of APIs and REST. APIs (application programming interface) provides a way for two software applications to communicate with each other.

[Larz60+]

Andrewsmith2921 writes
languages like JAVA, C++, and Python and all will become compulsory and a must thing

I don't disagree, but thought I'd like to mention that I heard the same argument back in the early 80's except
back then the languages were lisp, fortran, and assembler.

[Naheed]

You have a lot of options:

1. Learn programming
2. Learn methodology (requirements and test case design)
3. Learn networking
4. Learn more tools