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Windows Powershell in Action 1st Edition

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 44 ratings

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Windows PowerShell in Action
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A guide to using Windows PowerShell to script Windows administrative tasks and control Windows from the command line.

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From the Publisher

PowerShell in Action

Part I - Learning PowerShell This comprehensive tour of the PowerShell language and runtime introduces the language and offers a deep insight into how and why things are the way they are. Part I, covers the PowerShell language including the syntax, the type system with examples showing how each feature works.

Chapter 1-PowerShell history and a quick tour of the features of the environment.

Chapter 2-PowerShell concepts you'll need to put PowerShell to work.

Chapter 3-The PowerShell type system and its relationship to .NET.

Chapter 4-Operators and expressions including basic arithmetic, comparison and assignment, wildcard and regular expression pattern matching.

Chapter 5-Operations for working with arrays (indexing, slicing) and objects (properties and methods, output redirection, the formatting operator and PowerShell variables.

Chapter 6-PowerShell language constructs like if statement and loops.

Chapter 7-Programming in PowerShell, including functions and scripts and variable scoping.

Chapter 8-Object construction and extensions, Scriptblocks and how to extend the PowerShell language.

Chapter 9-Error handling and debugging.

Part II looks at applying PowerShell in specific technology areas and problem domains.

Chapter 10-Text processing such as basic string processing, file processing (including handling binary files) and working with XML documents.

Chapter 11-Locating, exploring and instantiating types in the .NET framework including generic types with applications including network programming and WinForms.

Chapter 12-Using the application automation models to script Microsoft Word, WMI from the command line and in scripts to inspect, update and manage a Windows system, and VBScript interaction.

Chapter 13-Security, security, security.

From the Author

Wow, I wrote a book. One moment you're a humble programming language designer and the next you're up until 2:00AM every night trying to figure out how to say "and in the next example" 500 times without being boring.

So why write it? Mostly because of PowerShell. Although PowerShell draws heavily from existing technologies, it combines them in some very novel ways. This kind of novelty leads to misunderstandings. As we showed our work to the world I found that there were a number of questions that were being asked over and over again. These questions would usually arise as a result of some prior language experience that the user had. There needed to be a way to gather this information altogether in one place.

It's astonishing was how much power comes out of the synergy of the various technologies underlying PowerShell. The PowerShell team would read people's blogs and be astonished by the creativity that was being demonstrated. This book tries to foster that creativity by conveying just how capable the PowerShell is.

And finally, this is the book I wanted to read. I love programming languages and the best books are the ones that explain not only "what" but also "why". These books give the reader something more that just technical detail. They convey a sense of the overall design and some element of the intent of the designer.

Learn PowerShell, be creative and above all, have fun.

Enjoy,

Bruce Payette

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Manning Pubns Co; 1st edition (February 5, 2007)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 551 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1932394907
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1932394900
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.11 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9 x 1 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 44 ratings

About the author

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Bruce G. Payette
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Bruce Payette is a founding member of the Windows PowerShell team, the author of the Windows PowerShell language interpreter, and one of key designers of the Windows PowerShell language. He has been working on UNIX shell and utility tools for Windows for the past 15 years at companies like MKS and Softway Systems (now part of Microsoft Services for Unix).

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
44 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book's language easy to understand and entertaining to read. They say it makes their job easier and more interesting. However, opinions differ on the information quality - some find it informative and helpful for learning Powershell, while others feel the author is overly knowledgeable and not instructional enough.

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6 customers mention "Language"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's language easy to understand and entertaining to read. They say it provides nuances that other books don't, making their job easier and more interesting.

"...out, the information very well presented in relatively easy to understand language, there is an abundance of script snippets to demonstrate what is..." Read more

"...This book may give nuances to the language you might not find in other books...." Read more

"...It has made my job easier and much more interesting. This book is like taking what I have done and put it on steroids...." Read more

"This book is fantastic. Fun to read, easy to understand, and incredibly informative. Get the info straight from the source! PowerShell forever!" Read more

11 customers mention "Information quality"6 positive5 negative

Customers have different views on the book's information quality. Some find it informative and helpful for learning PowerShell, saying it builds the groundwork for automating tasks. Others feel the author has too much knowledge on the subject and the book is not beginner-friendly.

"...It has made my job easier and much more interesting. This book is like taking what I have done and put it on steroids...." Read more

"...But the author knows too much on the subject, and like any proud parent, often "too much information" is given, delving too deep into the gears and..." Read more

"...Even then, this book builds the groundwork for using Powershell to automate all types of tasks and will be usable far into the future...." Read more

"This guy maybe be a Guru at PowerShell but this book is not beginner friendly at all...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2007
    Consider this book the Definitive Reference for PowerShell. Written by one of the designers of the PowerShell environment, the author knows all the ins and outs, back-alleys, hidden rooms, and secret handshakes the language offers - and isn't afraid to grab you by the hand and drag you along (like it or not!) for the tour of your life.

    Therein, however, is the reason I can't recommend this as your first PowerShell book. The book is very logically planned out, the information very well presented in relatively easy to understand language, there is an abundance of script snippets to demonstrate what is being talked about, and the writing style itself is entertaining to read. But the author knows too much on the subject, and like any proud parent, often "too much information" is given, delving too deep into the gears and cogs of PowerShell and the underlying .NET framework for the (often basic) building block component, which might overwhelm the new PowerShell user, especially if the user does not have programming, let alone scripting, experience.

    So although I say don't make this your first purchase, make it your second - and probably your last. Start with an "Introduction" style book (like Microsoft Windows Powershell Programming for the Absolute Beginner) to get used to the complex environment (even if you've only had VBS/JS experience), get comfortable with the basics of the shell, then move up to this title. You'll soon find out that every aspect you thought you knew has much more to the story than you thought, and you'll walk away from this read able to do just about everything you want.
    71 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2010
    I bought this book back in 2007, as I was curious about powershell - which was version 1 at the time and this book was a key book to understanding it.

    I got a few books on powershell, and the style of this book at first seemed very choppy, but as I learned more about the language it became more understandable the way things were done in this book. The author has so much information about the way that the language was developed that it made certain things distracting.

    I have seen the author on the MSDN Channel 9 video's and that also probably helped me understand how the author voices things in a certain way.

    The book is very useful, and the most dogeared of my powershell books. There are better style books out there (for version 1).
    Now with Powershell 2.0 there will be a new batch of books, and I understand that the author is working on a 2nd edition for Powershell 2.0.

    There is a lot to powershell, and it presents a learning curve, but you will find that the time invested will bring a payoff. It feels like a swiss army knife for admins and developers. This book may give nuances to the language you might not find in other books. So I definitely would recommend this book, more so if it is a 2nd edition - for Powershell 2.0.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2018
    I have been searching for good reference material for PowerShell because I use it so much withy job. I received this book yesterday and I have already found answers to questions I haven't been been able to find clear answers for and learned new techniques...All in less than 24 hours! I only started using PS within the past year because of employer paid certification. It has made my job easier and much more interesting. This book is like taking what I have done and put it on steroids. The only ding that I have is it took a little too long for something purchased through Amazon to get to me.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2008
    This guy maybe be a Guru at PowerShell but this book is not beginner friendly at all. If you have been scripting for years then this may well be the "definitive guide". However, if you are a Windows System Administrator who tends to script from time to time to solve basic problems then this is book is absolutely not for you. I got better examples and information from the guide that came with powershell and webcasts on powershell that are on the microsoft technet site, than I got from this book. Once again its probably great for a developer or an person with scripting experience but its of little value for a beginner Sorry Bruce :( I had high hopes for the book based on all the other stellar reviews.
    22 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2008
    This book is written by a self-admitted geek expressly for geeks. Being a geek myself I rate it highly for content. However, Administrators should bypass it. There are few administrators or programmers that need to know "Why" something was done. There is too much information in this world to absorb and reading this book contributes to that. Plus, practical things like profiles and snapins are not even mentioned (I didn't find them while reading it, but if they are there it emphasizes the following point).

    I disagree that it can be used a a reference, except by an occaisonal geek. It would take too long to find anything related to your daily problem even though it is probably there. Few publishers know how to organize and display technical data so that after it is read it can be found again. There are silly things like showing the wrong way to do things. Who needs that in a reference book since you may copy it without checking if it works? A true reference book defines every (well at least the most useful) command/parameter nuances and tells you what you can't find in the normal documentation. Another book I own, Professional Windows PowerShell comes far closer to being a reference, and is a better book for a general programmer.
    16 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Covers most of the interesting aspect
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 21, 2021
    Some what interesting
  • nika
    5.0 out of 5 stars 本格的なPowerShell解説書
    Reviewed in Japan on April 15, 2007
    PowerShell設計者による解説書。

    前半はその文法を豊富なサンプルを基に解説している。

    設計者でなければ知りえない手法によるサンプルは圧巻。

    PowerShellを知る上での最初で最後の決定版といえるかも?

    後半はPowerShellを活用するサンプルを解説。

    こちらはちょっと実用に供するには無理があるものもあり。

    まあ、このあたりは作った側の人の解説ということで許容の範囲。

    PowerShellの実用的な例は、今後様々な解説本に乗ってくることを期待したい。
  • Joginder S Nahil
    5.0 out of 5 stars Arrived in time and very good condition
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 24, 2013
    The book was good value for money. it arrived in good time. Cant expect more than that. Hopefully I will make use of the contents!