Windows PowerShell in Action, 3rd Edition

Windows PowerShell is the next-generation scripting environment created by Microsoft. It’s designed to provide a unified solution for Windows scripting and automation, able to access the wide range of technologies such as .net, com and wmi through a single tool. Since its release in 2006, PowerShell has become the central component of any Windows management solution. In addition, due to PowerShell’s comprehensive support for .net, it has broad application potential outside of the system administration space. PowerShell can be used for text processing, general scripting, build management, creating test frameworks, and so on. With PowerShell v6 being available on Linux and mac OS as well as Windows, the benefits of PowerShell now extend cross-platform bringing a unified approach to system management.

The authors have extensive experience with PowerShell. Bruce was one of the principal creators of PowerShell. Richard has been using PowerShell since it first became available to apply automation techniques to many organizations. Using many examples, both small and large, this book illustrates the features of the language and environment and shows how to compose those features into solutions, quickly and effectively.

Note that, because of the broad scope of the PowerShell product, this book has a commensurately broad focus. It was not designed as a cookbook of pre-constructed management examples, like how to deal with Active Directory or how to script Exchange. Instead it provides information about the core of the PowerShell runtime and how to use it to compose solutions the 'PowerShell Way'. After reading this book, the PowerShell user should be able to take any example written in other languages like C# or Visual Basic and leverage those examples to build solutions in PowerShell.
Who should read this book?

This book is designed for anyone who wants to learn PowerShell and use it well. Rather than simply being a book of recipes to read and apply, this book tries to give the reader a deep knowledge about how PowerShell works and how to apply it. All users of PowerShell should read this book.

So, if you’re a Windows sysadmin, this book is for you. If you’re a developer and you need to get things done in a hurry, if you’re interested in .net, or just if you like to experiment with computers, PowerShell is for you and this book is for you.