7   Code Generation

The book Understanding SNMP MIBs by David Perkins & Evan McGinnis defines MIB specifications as follows:

SNMP Management Information Base (MIB) specifications are documents containing definitions of management information so that networked systems can be remotely monitored, configured, and controlled.

In other words, a MIB specification describes the interface between device and management software. A MIB specification is typically written before the corresponding SNMP agent and management systems are implemented. Thus, generating code from MIB specifications provides the following benefits:

• Code generation ensures that a MIB implementation strictly follows the corresponding MIB specification which improves the quality of the implementation.

• Code generation cuts months from your implementation schedule by automatically generating the SNMP agent. You are able to spend more time on the agent/manager functionality and less time on implement­ing interfaces.