Looking ahead
We have taken a pretty huge leap forward in this chapter as far as automating our network using Python is concerned. However, the method we have used feels like somewhat of a workaround for automation. We attempted to trick the remote devices into thinking they were interacting with a human on the other end.
Downsides of Pexpect and Paramiko compared to other tools
The biggest downside of our method so far is that the remote devices do not return structured data. They return data that is ideal to be fitted on a terminal to be interpreted by a human, not by a computer program. The human eye can easily interpret a space, while a computer only sees a return character.
We will take a look at a better way in the upcoming chapter. As a prelude to Chapter 6, APIs and Intent-Driven Networking, let's discuss the idea of idempotency.
Idempotent network device interaction
The term idempotency has different meanings, depending on its context. But in this book's context, the term means that...
