Python vs. Ansible | Who Wins the Automation Battle

You want to automate, but do you learn Python or Ansible? Mel explains both approaches so you can choose which one is better for you.
0:25 Programming language to automate?
2:12 Configuration Management tools
3:45 Keep it simple
4:50 Automation bug
5:15 Config management vs code

[@verlaine_devnet]

Insightful! Ansible vs Python is such a great battle

[@computemel8070]

Thanks for the comment Verlaine!

[@ranjeetjangra]

No point comparing both platforms, both have different scope , use case , cost, development efforts ,capabilities. Both of them shines in their own scopes. 👍

[@GOTHICforLIFE1]

Well I think it helps to highlights why you'd want to use one over the other. Don't think they actually find one "superior" over the other. Especially considering one is built on the other

[@computemel8070]

Thanks for the comment. Indeed, it's not so much about the tooling itself. Automating things with Python is worth the effort and developers get exactly what's needed. On the flip side there is a lot of code to write and maintain which is why a configuration management tool, such as Ansible, is handy for accomplishing a lot with relatively fewer lines of code. Which approach and tool(s) are right for your and your organization is largely a matter of preference.

[@computemel8070]

@@GOTHICforLIFE1 Good point! We didn't want to sound prescriptive and declare one as a superior choice.

[@0xded53c6]

Hey guys, following your advice, I would like to ask what is the background a developer advocate in Cisco should have? Thank you.

[@denisetkwan]

@0xded53c63 Thank you for commenting! Great question. I don't think there is a cookie cutter background for the developer advocates in DevNet. Most of us actually come from a totally different background. For example, I went from a CS degree --> software engineer --> developer support --> Developer Advocate. Mel's background is many years doing operations -> various DevOps roles -> Developer Advocate. There are also developer advocates who have a networking background.
At the end of the day, you have to understand APIs well (write them, consume them, documentation, developer experience, developer support, etc), write sample code/demos, understand the developer audience (this doesn't necessarily mean software developers; it can mean anyone using APIs), be passionate about spreading the word about APIs and build a community around this. Of course in order to have the above, you must know some coding languages. I hope this answers your question!