Most current network automation engineers use python, but there has been a subset who have started to make the shift to Go.
The title is meant to be a bit "click bait" and get people in the door. It won't be a war between programming languages, just an educational panel about the pros and cons of each and which is better for what kinds of jobs, why you might want to consider learning one vs the other vs both, etc.
Python has a richer ecosystem with libraries such as Netmiko, NAPALM, Batfish, Scrapli, Nornir and many vendor modules for network devices. Python is an interpreted language, dynamically typed and generally has a much quicker learning curve.
Go on the other hand is statically typed, it's compiled nature makes executing and deploying completed scripts easier, wins hands down for concurrency efficiency and speed for running higher numbers of jobs at the same time, and has a proactive approach to error handling.
Cat Gurinsky: Cat Gurinsky is a senior network engineer working on global large scale datacenter networks. Her primary focus is on the automation of the network specifically as it pertains to deployments, troubleshooting and life cycle management. In previous network engineering roles at Valparaiso University, Switch & Data, and Equinix she has worked on everything from enterprise and wireless deployments to internet exchanges and data centers. She first started working in network engineering in 2007 and began attending NANOG in 2009 at NANOG 46. Cat has a passion for BGP, Python, network tools, monitoring, automation and anything that can help make life easier in large scale networks. Cat also serves on the Advisory Board for the Network Automation Forum. She was elected to the NANOG Board of Directors in the 2023 elections and is currently serving on the board with a 3 year term from 2024-2026. Cat has previously served NANOG as part of the Development Committee from 2011-2012 and on the Program Committee from 2019-2023. During her 5 years on the program committee she was the chair of the Program Committee for almost 3 years, during which time she sat on the NANOG Board of Directors as an ex-officio member / PC liaison and Board Secretary. Before that she also served as Vice Chair, Secretary and Inclusion & Diversity Sub-Committee Chair for the Program Committee. During her time on the Development Committee she served as Membership Chair.
Claus Rugani Töpke: Claus Töpke is a product developer and founder of Telcomanager. He has worked with large network service providers, such as Telstra, NBN Australia, NZ Telecom, AWS Australia, AWS US, and Embratel. He has also worked in conjunction with large network technology corporations, such as Nokia, Amazon, Juniper, and Cisco. He has been able to experience different job titles, passing through fields such as network engineering, network performance, product development, and software engineering. His experience with network automation has led to the construction of several products and systems for different companies. He also worked on network performance for his master’s thesis and wrote a book about service providers.
Speakers:
Moderator Cat Gurinsky - Immortal Tiger Kenpo Karate
Panelist Brandon Bennett - Roblox
Ryan Hamel - i3D.net
Daniel Hertzberg - Arista networks
Frank Seesink
Claus Rugani Töpke - Telcomanager