Python Fundamentals for Network Engineers

Python is one of the most popular programming languages today. Its ease of use and extensive ecosystem of tools and community support make it an excellent choice for network automation. This course is designed for beginners, taking you from the basics to real-world applications of Python in networking. Built by engineers for engineers, this course will equip you with the skills and knowledge to use Python in various ways, while also teaching you the techniques required to understand Python at a deep and comprehensive level.

In this course, you will:

• Understand what Python is, its main features, and what Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) really means.
• Explore the Zen of Python and grasp the guiding principles that make Python code elegant and readable.
• Learn what the REPL is and how to use it for interactive programming.
• Delve into various Python data types and how to interact with them.
• Understand the importance of operators and the various operator types available.
• Learn how to apply flow control to your programs using conditional statements and loops.
• Recognize the benefits of context managers and learn how to use them within your code.
• Read from and write to various file formats including text files, YAML, JSON, XML, and CSV.
• Work with user inputs and environment variables to easily read data from user input.
• Discover how to handle exceptions gracefully in Python, including catching, raising, and understanding different types of exceptions.
• Define and work with functions to modularize and improve your code layout.
• Understand namespaces and their scope in Python, including the LEGB (Local, Enclosing, Global, Built-in) rule.
• Install packages using Pip, manage virtual environments, and comprehend the structure of scripts, modules, packages, and libraries.
• Get introduced to Python classes, how to write your own, and how to customize them through the use of special methods.
• Work with key Python libraries like netaddr, rich inspect, netmiko, re, and requests.