Cisco DevNet is excited for you to start your journey into automation, development, and networks. This module lays the groundwork for the entire group of modules by providing high-level information about the course, additional Cisco DevNet resources that are available outside this course, and instructions on how to use the built-in developer environment for the hands-on labs within the course. At the end of each module, there will also be quiz assessments to see how you're retaining the information. Let's begin this journey!

Laying a good foundation of knowledge for software development is a great start. There are many methodologies to choose from, and you want to learn from the history of building up software engineering best practices. You need to practice collaboratively as well as independently, so source control becomes a big part of a developer's life. This section provides context for where we are at this point of time, choosing modern software development ways to create that all-important business or user outcome.

With so many APIs to work with, you have to be sure you're clear on the foundations. This section concentrates on REST APIs. Cisco has many product lines with these interfaces for multiple use cases, whether collecting data, calling services, or listening to events.

Why does a developer need to know about the network that all application traffic goes through and on and between? Why does a network engineer who is already familiar with intricate details and architecture decisions for network traffic need to know about application development? One without the other doesn't quite get the job done, when the job is about managing and deploying applications at scale while meeting performance requirements and expectations. Let's lay the network foundation and study beyond the basics.

This section introduces you to application deployment options. You will learn about the components of a continuous integration and continuous deployment pipeline, including containers and microservices. You will learn about examples of deployment in test environments and in production environments. You will also learn about deployment security measures and understand known vulnerabilities.

Sure, there are a myriad of tools for automating many tasks, and speciality tools for simulating a network for testing. But even higher up the value chain is speed with precision and safe self-service options. Puppet, Ansible, and Chef all work well for these use cases. In addition, PyATS and VIRL are specialty tools for the network specifically.

If you want to know about all of Cisco's developer and automation offerings, there is a lot of information to sort through. This section pulls it all together in big categories, such as collaboration, compute including data centers, networking including data models, and security. Even if you are familiar with a product family, we hope you learn new tips or hints while reading through and trying some of these platforms first-hand.