In part 5, the final section of this book, our focus moves to the increasingly important topic of network automation. As networks grow in size and complexity, the ability to automate routine operations becomes crucial for efficiency, accuracy, and scalability. Chapter 22 begins with an overview of network automation and its benefits, with a focus on software-defined networking (SDN), an approach to network architecture that centralizes key network functions in an SDN controller, facilitating the programmatic control of the network.
Chapters 23 and 24 cover two key elements in enabling network automation. Chapter 23 focuses on representational state transfer (REST) application programming interfaces (APIs)—software interfaces that facilitate communication between applications. Then, chapter 24 introduces the data formats JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), XML (Extensible Markup Language), and YAML (YAML Ain’t Markup Language). Software applications can use these standardized data formats to exchange data in a way both parties understand—key for enabling communication between network devices, SDN controllers, and other applications.