Preface
PowerShell is a network scripting language that provides a set of tools to administer Microsoft products. While PowerShell is based on command-line interactions, it is much more powerful than what the standard command line offers. It has built-in sections of code called cmdlets. They simplify functions that you may need to perform on a system. Using cmdlets greatly reduces the number of lines of code that are required to perform actions, compared to other scripting languages, such as VBScript.
PowerShell is based on the verb-noun naming convention, which allows scripters to declare an action followed by an object to configure. For example, the get-service cmdlet easily designates that you are getting a Windows service. This literal naming convention helps readers quickly learn how to program in PowerShell, as the actions are easily remembered.
Community support for PowerShell has grown astronomically. Not only have large companies adopted PowerShell in their environments, but universities are also regularly teaching PowerShell courses to their students. PowerShell's feature set keeps growing with every release of the product. It is conceivable in the near future that you will be able to fully automate the configuration of every component in a data center. This will remove the needs of multiple engineering specialists to provision networking, storage, firewalls, operating systems builds, and high-availability configurations. It will all be done via PowerShell scripting and the systems will be able to be configured using a singular network language.
This book provides a strong foundation for learning PowerShell using real-world scenarios. You will not only be able to quickly learn how to program in this language, but also be able to produce scripts that you can use in your existing environments. This book will also be a great reference book for you to look back on and revisit as you are coding. It will provide the proper syntax and show you successful ways to implement your code. When you are done with reading this book, you will be well on your way to "mastering PowerShell"!
