On Sat, Feb 3, 2024, at 2:44 PM, Randy Bush wrote:
> at ripe and nanog we talk about bringing up the next generation.  at
> fosdem they're doing it.

This topic came up on stage (and in the hallways, based on what I overheard) at 
NAF's Autocon 0 in November. There, I heard about CS grads who had come out of 
a 4-year program knowing so little about networks that they could not describe 
the relationship between an IP address and a netmask, or explain in broad 
strokes the function of a router. (Same story with coding bootcamps.) On the 
other side, network engineers can obtain certifications that cover zero 
software development ideas.

The central question of that conference was why networks are not being 
automated in the same way that systems have been for quite a while now, and 
some folks pointed a finger in the direction of education. You can't create 
effective automation or orchestration without creating some software (or at 
minimum fancy scripts), and their point was that there's very little crossover, 
educationally, between software developers and network engineers.

At $DAYJOB, I run a team that works on various automation processes for the 
network, and I concur. When I'm hiring, I need to find people who can 
competently write and maintain software, but who also understand network 
concepts and ideally even how to interact with actual routers. They aren't as 
easy to find as I'd like.

Dan

PS: Incidentally for this audience, NAF (Network Automation Forum) is holding 
Autocon 1 in Europe at the end of May.
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