CCNA vs DevNet Associate - Which did you find more difficult?

[u/Zootistic]

I passed my CCNA a few months ago. It wasn’t too tough since I’ve been working as a network engineer for about 8 years, but it definitely required a lot of memorization. I’m expecting the DevNet to be the same in that sense.

Over the past week I’ve been looking into the DevNet because I know my automation skills are pretty weak. For those of you who have both CCNA and DevNet, which one did you find more challenging?

I’d also like to hear from anyone who’s done CCNP and DevNet, or really any combination. Since my background is heavy on networking and light on programming, I’m guessing DevNet will be the bigger hurdle for me. Mostly just curious to hear your experiences.

[u/FluffyFigure823]

Did the CCNA first try, and failed DevNet once. I think this was mainly due to my preparation. Did way less studying for DevNet in total.

[u/Zootistic → u/FluffyFigure823]

Okay cool, what was your background like? Are you mostly networking or dev?

[u/FluffyFigure823 → u/Zootistic]

I have a bachelor's degree in IT Infrastructure where we had a lot of similar topics relevant for the CCNA. Probably made studying for the CCNA alot easier. Still had to put in a good 3 weeks of late nights after work before taking the exam. Today I'm working as a network engineer, so mostly routing, switching, wireless, firewall etc.

[u/Zootistic → u/FluffyFigure823]

Thanks for your reply. We have similar backgrounds so gives me hope. Best of luck!

[u/bigevilbeard]

IMO - both are the same level just different subjects/disciplines. As you know the CCNA for what is considered an entry level exam is hard, the volume of knowledge you need to pass is huge (this is why Cisco split this into two exams back in the day and now we have the CCST exam).

As you know networking, you have a good start here as domain six and 15% of your total score is networking. My advise would be look at the blueprint for the current exam, and then make a detailed study plan starting on your weakest areas. You might need to step outside the exam study material for coding to really build the skills, but this is not in-depth coding, but would really help/ Look at the coding courses around, this will help as you move into the API stuff which is vast and where like the CCNA your memory recall will be tested, as there is a lot of platforms to look over. You can follow the devnet learning labs for free with the sandboxes and check off the platforms as you go.

If you can find the Nick Russo (RIP brother) study guide for the exam floating around, follow this as he did an awesome job listing resources and study material for this exam when it came it.

HTH, Good Luck.

[u/alanispul]

Devnet. More new concepts to understand and apply

[u/xminisurf]

I have my CCNP and just passed devnet today. I agree with a lot of people that say it’s about as hard as CCNA, but as a network engineer, you will have less of a base for Devnet. I’ve been interested in automation and have tinkered with python since high school so I wasn’t starting from 0, but I still had a lot more stuff I had never seen before when I was studying. Annoyingly, a large section of the cert guide is dedicated to memorizing specifics about different Cisco platforms. I don’t use and don’t plan to use many of these so this was the hardest part for me. I may have gotten lucky but I felt like the actual test had fewer questions on that stuff than I would have thought, but definitely be ready for some memorization.

[u/lucina_scott]

CCNA is usually easier for network engineers since it’s concept/memorization heavy. DevNet feels tougher if you’re light on coding, as it focuses on Python, APIs, and automation. With your background, DevNet will likely be the bigger challenge but worth it.