The Python client for the eAPI and Pyeapi (http://pyeapi.readthedocs.io/en/master/index.html) libraries is a native Python library wrapper around eAPI. It provides a set of bindings to configure Arista EOS nodes. Why do we need pyeapi when we already have eAPI? Since we have used Python to demonstrate eAPI, keep in mind that the only requirement of eAPI is a JSON-RPC capable client. Thus, it is compatible with most programming languages. Personally, I think of eAPI as a common denominator among all different languages. When I first started out in the field, Perl was the dominant language for scripting and network automation. There are still many enterprises that rely on Perl scripts as their primary automation tool. Or in a situation where the company already has invested a ton of resources and code base in another language, eAPI with JSON-RPC would be the way to move forward with.

However, for those of us who prefer to code in Python, a native Python library means a more natural feeling in writing our code. It certainly makes extending a Python program to support the EOS node easier. It also makes keeping up with the latest change in Python easier. For example, we can use Python 3 with pyeapi!