Windows PowerShell for Developers [Paperback]

Douglas Finke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 19, 2012

Want to perform programming tasks better, faster, simpler, and make them repeatable? Take a deep dive into Windows PowerShell and discover what this distributed automation platform can do. Whether you’re a .NET developer or IT pro, this concise guide will show you how PowerShell’s scripting language can help you be more productive on everyday tasks.

Quickly learn how to create PowerShell scripts and embed them into your existing applications, write "little languages" to solve specific problems, and take charge of your code. This book includes example scripts that you can easily pull apart, tweak, and then use in your own PowerShell and .NET solutions.

• Slice and dice text, XML, CSV, and JSON with ease
• Embed PowerShell to provide scripting capabilities for your C# apps
• Create GUI applications five to ten times faster with less code
• Leverage PowerShell’s capabilities to work with the Internet
• Interact with DLLs and create objects, automatically display properties, and call methods in live interactive sessions
• Build domain-specific languages (DSLs) and vocabularies to express solutions more clearly
• Work with Microsoft Office via the Component Object Model (COM)
• Discover PowerShell v3 features included with Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Doug Finke, a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for PowerShell, is a software developer at Lab49, a company that builds advanced applications for the financial service industry. For the last 20 years, Doug has been a developer and author working with numerous technologies. You can catch up with Doug at his blog Development in a Blink at http://dougfinke.com/blog/.

Product Details

• Paperback: 210 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media (July 19, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1449322700
• ISBN-13: 978-1449322700
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.4 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #150,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Doug Finke, a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for PowerShell, is a software developer at Lab49, a company that builds advanced applications for the financial service industry. For the last 20 years, Doug has been a developer and author working with numerous technologies. You can catch up with Doug at his blog Development in a Blink at http://dougfinke.com/blog/.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars No index! September 19, 2012

By P. Huffman

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Good little book on PowerShell, but it has no index. I consider this a fatal flaw for a reference book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have book for PowerShell Developers (and IT pros) July 31, 2012

By Stefan Stranger

Format:Paperback

This is the next book you should read after reading the Windows PowerShell in Action book from Bruce Payette. Even me, being more a IT professional than a Developer, learned many new things about how to use PowerShell more effectively.
I will definitely use things I learned reading this book during the PowerShell classes I teach. Now I can finally address all the questions developers have when attending my PowerShell classes.
One of the most interesting Chapters of the PowerShell for Developers book was about writing little languages in PowerShell. Doug does an excellent way, explaining how we can use PowerShell to write our own domain-specific languages. And if you are a "hard-core" developer Doug shows many great examples to speed up your development time and save money. Buy this book and you will not be disappointed.

Stefan Stranger

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Special interest December 24, 2012

By Dimitri Shvorob

Format:Paperback

Wishing to learn PowerShell, I got myself

"Windows PowerShell for Developers" by Finke, 2012, $19
"Windows PowerShell in Action" by Payette, 2011, $31
"Windows PowerShell Cookbook" by Holmes, 2010, $25
"Pro Windows PowerShell" by Deshev, 2008, $12
"Essential PowerShell" by Schwichtenberg, 2008, $20

(I skipped the books authored or co-authored by Richard Siddaway due to their administrator orientation. This said, "PowerShell in Practice" has a chapter on working with SQL Server - nice).

After reviewing these, my impression is that

1. None of the books is "sufficient".
2. Only Payette's and, for intermediate users, Deshev's, qualify as "PowerShell textbooks".
3. Such "textbooks" do not give enough examples, making Holmes's tome a must-have. (And that isn't great: many of Holmes's recipes are for administrators, so are dead weight for non-administrators; on the other hand, for administrators, Siddaway's books are a must-have, but those may not cover everything).

Evaluating the book's incremental value over a Deshev/Payette-and-Holmes combination, I highlight its two chapters on Microsoft Roslyn technologies and "little languages", but consider it optional for the mainstream reader. (Nice bits that I picked up in the book include links to third-party PowerShell IDEs and PowerShell community resources, and ability to run PowerShell commands from C# via System.Management.Automation.PowerShell). The book is a little expensive for its page count, and I suspect that this is a "version 3 premium" - note, however, that a new edition of Holmes's book, updated for PowerShell v. 3, is coming out in January.

PS. I can't help noticing that the last two paragraphs on page 114 repeat text found on MSDN pages - is this alright?
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