CCNP DevNet Professional

Who Should Take This

Network automation engineers, software developers, and DevOps professionals with three to five years of experience designing and implementing Cisco-based automation solutions should pursue this certification. They seek to validate expertise in programmable networking, API-driven integrations, and secure, automated deployment pipelines to advance their careers and drive operational efficiency.

What's Covered

1 All domains in the Cisco Certified DevNet Professional (DEVCOR 350-901) exam: Software Development and Design

2 , Using APIs

3 , Cisco Platforms and Development

4 , Application Deployment and Security

5 , and Infrastructure and Automation

What's Included in AccelaStudy® AI

Adaptive Knowledge Graph

Practice Questions

Lesson Modules

Console Simulator Labs

Exam Tips & Strategy

20 Activity Formats

Course Outline

60 learning goals

1 Domain 1: Software Development and Design

4 topics

Design patterns and principles

Apply the Observer design pattern to implement event-driven network monitoring systems that decouple event producers from consumers for scalable notification architectures.
Implement the Strategy pattern to create interchangeable network device communication backends (SSH, NETCONF, RESTCONF) that can be selected at runtime without modifying client code.
Apply Singleton and Factory patterns to manage shared resources such as API client connections, device inventory caches, and credential stores in network automation applications.
Evaluate SOLID principles and design pattern applicability to recommend the appropriate pattern for a given network automation problem including coupling reduction and extensibility requirements.

Software testing and quality

Implement unit tests using pytest and unittest with mocking of network device API responses to validate automation code logic without requiring live device connectivity.
Configure integration test environments using Docker containers and network device simulators to validate end-to-end automation workflows before production deployment.
Apply code quality tools including linters (pylint, flake8), type checkers (mypy), and code formatters (black) to enforce coding standards across network automation codebases.
Design a test strategy for network automation projects combining unit, integration, and end-to-end tests with appropriate test doubles to achieve high confidence without excessive test maintenance.

Version control and collaboration

Apply Git branching strategies (feature branches, GitFlow, trunk-based development) and pull request workflows to manage network automation code changes with peer review and merge controls.
Compare branching strategies and release management approaches to recommend the optimal Git workflow for a given team size, release cadence, and automation project complexity.

Asynchronous programming and concurrency

Implement asynchronous network automation using Python asyncio and aiohttp to perform concurrent API calls and device operations that scale efficiently across large infrastructure inventories.
Compare threading, multiprocessing, and async/await concurrency models to recommend the optimal approach for network automation workloads based on I/O-bound versus CPU-bound characteristics.

2 Domain 2: Using APIs

2 topics

REST API design and consumption

Implement REST API consumption using Python requests library with proper HTTP methods, headers, query parameters, pagination handling, and error response interpretation for Cisco platform APIs.
Configure OAuth 2.0 authentication flows including authorization code, client credentials, and token refresh for secure API access to Cisco cloud services and controller platforms.
Implement API rate limiting handling, retry logic with exponential backoff, and circuit breaker patterns to build resilient automation clients that gracefully handle API throttling and outages.
Analyze REST API response codes, error payloads, and API documentation (OpenAPI/Swagger) to evaluate API capabilities and troubleshoot integration failures with Cisco platform endpoints.
Design RESTful API interfaces for network automation services applying resource naming conventions, versioning strategies, HATEOAS links, and OpenAPI specification documentation.

Advanced API technologies

Implement gRPC client applications using Protocol Buffers for high-performance, bidirectional streaming communication with Cisco IOS XR model-driven telemetry and configuration services.
Configure WebSocket connections for real-time event streaming from Cisco platforms, implementing connection lifecycle management, heartbeat handling, and reconnection logic.
Implement webhook receivers to process asynchronous event notifications from Cisco platforms including Webex, Meraki, and DNA Center for event-driven automation workflows.
Compare REST, gRPC, WebSocket, and webhook communication patterns to recommend the optimal API technology for specific automation use cases based on latency, throughput, and coupling requirements.

3 Domain 3: Cisco Platforms and Development

5 topics

DNA Center / Catalyst Center APIs

Implement DNA Center Intent API workflows to automate device discovery, network provisioning, and SWIM image distribution using token-based authentication and task polling patterns.
Apply DNA Center Assurance APIs to retrieve network health scores, client connectivity metrics, and issue data for custom monitoring dashboards and automated remediation triggers.
Configure DNA Center event notifications and webhook subscriptions to trigger external automation workflows when network events, compliance violations, or device state changes are detected.

Meraki Dashboard API

Implement Meraki Dashboard API integrations to automate network creation, device claiming, SSID configuration, and client monitoring across cloud-managed Meraki infrastructure.
Configure Meraki webhook alerts and scanning API to build location analytics and automated incident response systems using real-time network event data.

ACI programmability

Apply ACI APIC REST API to programmatically manage tenants, EPGs, contracts, and L3Outs using the managed object model and JSON/XML payload construction.
Implement ACI automation using the cobra SDK and acitoolkit Python libraries to create reusable application onboarding scripts with error handling and idempotent operations.
Analyze the ACI object model class hierarchy and distinguish-name conventions to navigate the MIT and construct efficient API queries for fabric health and policy troubleshooting.

IOS XE and SD-WAN programmability

Implement RESTCONF and NETCONF automation for IOS XE devices using YANG models to configure interfaces, routing protocols, and ACLs through model-driven programmability interfaces.
Apply Cisco SD-WAN vManage REST APIs to automate template management, device onboarding, and policy deployment across the SD-WAN overlay fabric.
Implement Cisco NSO service packages with YANG service models and Python/Java action handlers to orchestrate multi-device configuration changes through transactional service provisioning.

Webex and collaboration APIs

Implement Webex REST API integrations to create bots, manage rooms, send messages, and handle webhooks for ChatOps-style network operations workflows.
Design a cross-platform automation solution integrating DNA Center, Meraki, ACI, and Webex APIs to provide unified network operations, alerting, and remediation across Cisco infrastructure domains.

4 Domain 4: Application Deployment and Security

4 topics

Containerization and orchestration

Implement Docker containerization for network automation applications, creating multi-stage Dockerfiles, configuring networking, managing volumes, and using docker-compose for local development.
Deploy network automation applications on Kubernetes using Deployments, Services, ConfigMaps, and Secrets to achieve scalable, self-healing application hosting with configuration externalization.
Configure Kubernetes health checks (liveness, readiness probes), resource limits, and horizontal pod autoscaling to ensure reliable operation of containerized automation workloads.
Evaluate container orchestration strategies including single-container, sidecar, and microservices patterns to recommend the optimal deployment architecture for network automation applications.

CI/CD pipelines

Implement CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions or GitLab CI with stages for linting, testing, building container images, and deploying network automation applications to staging and production.
Design a CI/CD strategy for network infrastructure-as-code that includes automated testing against network simulators, approval gates, and staged rollout to prevent configuration regressions.

Application security

Implement secrets management using HashiCorp Vault, environment variables, or Kubernetes secrets to securely store and retrieve API keys, device credentials, and certificates in automation applications.
Apply secure coding practices including input validation, parameterized queries, output encoding, and dependency vulnerability scanning to protect network automation applications from OWASP Top 10 threats.
Implement container image scanning, base image hardening, and runtime security policies to reduce the attack surface of containerized network automation deployments.
Evaluate application security architectures including API gateway patterns, mTLS service mesh, and zero-trust principles to recommend security controls for microservices-based automation platforms.

Application observability and 12-factor principles

Apply 12-factor app principles including config externalization, stateless processes, and port binding to design cloud-native network automation applications suitable for container deployment.
Implement structured logging, distributed tracing, and metrics collection in network automation applications to enable observability and troubleshooting in containerized microservices deployments.
Evaluate microservices versus monolithic architecture patterns to recommend the appropriate decomposition strategy for network automation platforms based on team size, deployment frequency, and fault isolation needs.

5 Domain 5: Infrastructure and Automation

5 topics

Ansible for Cisco infrastructure

Implement Ansible playbooks with Cisco IOS, NX-OS, and ACI modules to automate configuration deployment, compliance validation, and operational data collection across multi-platform environments.
Configure Ansible roles, variables, inventories, and Jinja2 templates to create reusable, parameterized automation content for standardized network provisioning across device fleets.
Implement Ansible error handling with block/rescue/always, retry logic, and validation tasks to build fault-tolerant automation workflows that handle device communication failures gracefully.

Terraform and infrastructure as code

Implement Terraform configurations using the ACI provider to declare and manage data center fabric resources including tenants, VRFs, bridge domains, and contracts as versioned infrastructure code.
Configure Terraform state management, workspaces, and module composition to organize infrastructure-as-code for multi-environment Cisco infrastructure deployments with drift detection.
Compare Ansible (imperative/procedural) and Terraform (declarative/state-based) approaches to recommend the appropriate tool for specific network automation use cases and lifecycle stages.

Python network automation libraries

Implement network automation scripts using Netmiko for SSH-based device management including multi-vendor support, concurrent connections, and structured output parsing with TextFSM/Genie parsers.
Apply Nornir framework to build inventory-driven, multi-threaded network automation workflows with task plugins, result filtering, and structured error handling for large-scale device operations.
Implement pyATS and Genie test scripts to perform automated network validation, device state comparison, and regression testing against expected operational baselines after changes.

YANG and model-driven automation

Analyze YANG data model structures including modules, containers, lists, leaf nodes, and augmentations to interpret Cisco-native and IETF/OpenConfig models for automation development.
Implement NETCONF operations using ncclient to perform get-config, edit-config, and commit with YANG-modeled payloads for transactional device configuration management.

Automation architecture and strategy

Design an enterprise network automation architecture selecting tools (Ansible, Terraform, Python, NSO), communication patterns (push/pull, event-driven), and integration points for end-to-end lifecycle management.
Recommend an automation adoption roadmap progressing from scripted tasks through configuration management to full orchestration, planning skill development, tool selection, and organizational change management.

Scope

Included Topics

All domains in the Cisco Certified DevNet Professional (DEVCOR 350-901) exam: Software Development and Design (20%), Using APIs (20%), Cisco Platforms and Development (20%), Application Deployment and Security (15%), and Infrastructure and Automation (25%).
Software development practices including design patterns (Observer, Strategy, Singleton, Factory), test-driven development, unit testing frameworks, code quality tools, version control with Git, and CI/CD pipeline concepts.
API technologies including REST architectural constraints, gRPC/protobuf, WebSocket, webhook integration, API authentication (OAuth 2.0, token-based), rate limiting, pagination, error handling, and API versioning strategies.
Cisco platform APIs and SDKs including DNA Center/Catalyst Center APIs, Meraki Dashboard API, ACI APIC REST API (cobra/acitoolkit), NSO APIs, Webex APIs, IOS XE RESTCONF/NETCONF, and Cisco SD-WAN (vManage) APIs.
Application deployment including Docker containerization, Kubernetes orchestration (pods, deployments, services), CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins), 12-factor app principles, and microservices architecture patterns.
Application security including OWASP Top 10, secrets management, container security, TLS/mTLS, API gateway security, and secure coding practices for network automation applications.
Infrastructure automation including Ansible playbooks and roles for Cisco platforms, Terraform provider for ACI and cloud, Python libraries (netmiko, nornir, pyATS/Genie), YANG model-driven automation, and event-driven automation.

Not Covered

Deep enterprise routing, switching, and wireless protocol configuration that is covered by the ENCOR exam rather than DEVCOR.
Network security appliance administration (NGFW, ISE, Stealthwatch) at operational depth covered by the SCOR exam rather than DEVCOR.
Data center fabric and compute infrastructure (NX-OS, UCS, FC) that is covered by the DCCOR exam rather than DEVCOR.
Full-stack web application development, frontend JavaScript frameworks, and database administration beyond what is needed for network automation applications.

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