1 Before you begin
PowerShell has been around for over 15 years, but it's been a fantastic journey. If you missed the memo, PowerShell is now cross-platform, meaning it's available on more than just Microsoft Windows. I am still blown away that Microsoft has open-sourced PowerShell. It was initially created to solve the specific problem of automating Windows administrative tasks, but frankly, a much simpler "batch file" language would have sufficed. PowerShell's inventor, Jeffrey Snover, and its entire product team had a much grander vision. They wanted something that could appeal to a broad, diverse audience. In their vision, administrators might start very simply by running commands to accomplish administrative tasks quickly—that's what the previous book, Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches, focused on. The team also imagined more complex tasks and processes being automated through varying complex scripts, which is what this book is all about. The PowerShell team also envisioned developers using PowerShell to create all-new units of functionality, which we'll hint at throughout this book. Just as your microwave probably has buttons you've never pushed, PowerShell likely has the functionality you may never touch because it doesn't apply to you. But with this book, you're taking a step into PowerShell's deepest functionality: scripting. Or if you buy into our worldview, toolmaking.