Looking ahead
We have taken a pretty huge leap forward as far as automating our network using Python in this chapter. However, the method we have used is somewhat a work-around for the automation. This is mainly due to the fact that the systems were originally built for human.
Downsides of Pexpect and Paramiko compared to other tools
The number one downside for our method so far is that they do not return structured data. They return the data that we find ideal to fit on a terminal to be interpreted by a human but not by a computer program. The human eye can easily interpret a space while the computer only sees a return character. This, of course, depends on the network devices to be made that is automation friendly.
We will take a look at a better way in the next chapter.
Idempotent network device interaction
The term idempotency has different meanings, depending on its context. But in this chapter's context, the term means when the client makes the same call to the device, the result should...
