6Automation and Artificial Intelligence

• 6.1Python building blocks and interpreting a script

  Treats Python's building blocks—variables, lists, dictionaries, loops, conditionals, and functions—not as syntax to memorize but as tools for reading what the script in front of you does and where it is wrong. You will learn to diagnose the network-automation staple of "iterate a device inventory and act only on matching devices" through its classic breaking points: indentation, missing keys, and return values.

• 6.2Constructing JSON and YANG

  Teaches reading and writing JSON to the level of judging whether a document is valid (object {} vs. array [], no trailing comma, keys in double quotes, value-type distinctions), and then YANG as the language that defines data types and structure with container/list/leaf, understood as the benefit of model-driven operations.

• 6.3Controller APIs and interpreting REST responses

  Covers Catalyst Center's Intent API and SD-WAN Manager (vManage)'s REST API as a flow from token acquisition to the actual call, then teaches deciding what to do next (retry, fix credentials, fix the URL, or wait) from the returned status code—200/201/204, 400/401/403/404/429, and 5xx—together with the payload.

• 6.4EEM and orchestration

  Teaches reading applets of EEM (Embedded Event Manager)—which runs autonomously on the device—as pairs of event (what triggers it: a syslog pattern, a timer, or a CLI command) and action (what it runs), so you can automate configuration, troubleshooting, and data collection. It also contrasts external configuration management as agent-based (Puppet/Chef, a resident agent pulling) versus agentless (Ansible, pushing over SSH).