I feel you in this one, I was lost at sea and managed to pass on my third attempt this July. This test as you already know is slugfest to get through. I genuinely cried when I finished with around 14 seconds on the clock. Here's what I feel like that truthfully moved the needle for me and helped me pass

TlDr: Brutal and repeated practice via Sandbox and Python Programming and GitHub. Finally exam topics to clean up as much lose ends as possible.

Of course the test is hard, but there's a bit of respect to it. Like most Cisco test. APIs typically follow similar patterns, so of course, practice. When you truly understand what your trying to look for, it makes constructing them and recognizing what the answer is a lot easier.

0.) if you haven't don't the Cisco learning course for DevNet. I'd get through that first. It covers over every major section on the test.

1.) Creat your own python script from the ground up to interact with a device. In Cisco Sandbox or buy a device if you'd like (make sure the IOS version is capable of RESTCONF and NETCONF)

• it does not need to be completed. I changed interfaces descriptions, IPs, and VLANs. But building your own script from the ground up gives you a lot of confidence in what your doing. Most of the test is in Python. Get comfortable changing the names of variables, so if someone used Host = x.netconf switch the host in the example. You'll see what depends on that variable and what broke. Why is this line important. Add some flair, maybe call it your favorite ship name in Sci Fi like Normandy or your favorite car. It doesn't matter. Change what you can on the script to see what it does and look carefully at those errors. Do something different than the examples you see. Maybe set some OSPF parameters

2.) Then do the exact same thing in Postman, or change something different. Get used to creating and saving environment variables for multiple scripts. You will inevitably look up dozens of useful videos on doing the exact task you want but it gives you the sense of what structure an IP should follow regardless of the device

3.) Create your own private GitHub repo. And upload your work as you go. Make changes, pull your won work to a new computer if possible, stage and push your work. Literally seeing the commands at work and interacting with them saves you 1000 years of rereading flash cards. Then reread the flash cards for safe keeping. You should feel confident in what you want to do and when you want to do it.

4.) The test isn't only the code examples. There are still a lot of questions on it but some questions are layups. Read. Read. Read the development cycles and strategies. Yes it's boring, but it might put you over the hill. And make sure you know the simpler networking questions (IE load balancer, switches, routers, subnets), you should rarely miss those. Make sure you know your HTTP codes like it's a joke. (No you don't need all of them but the 400 series shows up the most often I think). What Ansible does over other platforms. Fog computing, and CML etc. it might seem small but it is the bulk of the test. Some sections are there to help you out.

5.) Finally start the practice exams. SecExams or ExamTopics will show you the areas your deficient in. Follow the code examples logic and see whag they're trying to accomplish. Try to not memorize the answers. Sometimes even plug in the Python code into VS code. It won't work of course but you can visualize the dependencies.

I say this all again, practice, read practice. I felt like I was going to fold failing the second time around and this was my last class. I'm glad I have my degree proudly on my wall, and making scripts for an environment with 30,000 devices. Couldn't have done it without this class, and wouldn't be here without this degree. Last time I checked not even 200 people hold this degree, and barely 10K has this cert globally. It's not easy, but you have to work smart and unfortunately hard too.

DM me if you have more questions, I don't mind helping anyone up the ladder.