This 200-901 practice question tests your understanding of cisco platforms and development. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Which three of the following are common data formats used with REST APIs on Cisco platforms?
CSV
Why wrong: CSV is not typical for REST APIs.
JSON
JSON is widely used for REST APIs.
XML
XML is common in NETCONF and RESTCONF.
HTML
Why wrong: HTML is for web pages, not API data exchange.
YAML
YAML is used in Ansible and some YANG-based APIs.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
JSON
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight, text-based data interchange format that is natively supported by most programming languages and REST APIs. Cisco platforms, such as Cisco DNA Center and Cisco Meraki, use JSON as the primary data format for API requests and responses because it is easy to parse and has a compact structure. JSON's key-value pair syntax aligns well with RESTful principles, making it the most common choice for modern Cisco REST APIs.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
CSV
Why it's wrong here
CSV is not typical for REST APIs.
JSON
XML
Why this is correct
XML is common in NETCONF and RESTCONF.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
HTML
Why it's wrong here
HTML is for web pages, not API data exchange.
YAML
Why this is correct
YAML is used in Ansible and some YANG-based APIs.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Cisco often tests that candidates recognize JSON, XML, and YAML as common data formats for REST APIs, but the trap here is that YAML is less common for REST API payloads and more associated with configuration management tools like Ansible, leading some to incorrectly exclude it while including CSV or HTML.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, REST APIs on Cisco platforms (e.g., Cisco IOS XE, NX-OS) often support both JSON and XML, but JSON is preferred due to its lower overhead and native integration with JavaScript and Python, which are common for automation scripts. A subtle behavior is that Cisco's YANG data models (RFC 7950) can be serialized into JSON (RFC 7951) or XML, but YAML is not a standard serialization for YANG, though it is sometimes used in configuration files like Ansible playbooks. In real-world scenarios, when using Cisco DNA Center's REST API to retrieve network device inventory, the response is typically in JSON format, which can be directly consumed by Python's requests library without additional parsing libraries needed for XML.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A small business has 20 workstations on the 192.168.1.0/24 network and one public IP from its ISP. The router uses PAT (NAT overload) so all 20 devices share one public address using different source ports. NAT questions test whether you understand the four address terms and which direction each translation applies.
What to study next
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FAQ
Cisco Platforms and Development — This question tests Cisco Platforms and Development — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: JSON — JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight, text-based data interchange format that is natively supported by most programming languages and REST APIs. Cisco platforms, such as Cisco DNA Center and Cisco Meraki, use JSON as the primary data format for API requests and responses because it is easy to parse and has a compact structure. JSON's key-value pair syntax aligns well with RESTful principles, making it the most common choice for modern Cisco REST APIs.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
This 200-901 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 200-901 exam.
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