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Last week I completed PowerShell Deep Dives which got me excited again to read more about PowerShell. As such, I continued reading the next book on my reading list: Windows PowerShell Best Practices by Microsoft Scripting Guy Ed Wilson.
The book was released late January 2014 and is the most recent book about PowerShell that has been released to my knowledge. This means it includes PowerShell 4.0, Desired State Configuration DSC and references to Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2.
In my opinion the book was very well written and contains a good mix of theory, sample scripts and “notes from the field” from many PowerShell specialists. The sample scripts are available for download at Technet Script Center.
The best practices that are described in the book are very recognizable and I had already adopted many of them based on the many great blog posts by the community. In the book they are all bundled and well explained including examples. Where the book really shines though in my opinion is that it describes how PowerShell is used in real-life, how it relates to many other processes within a company and what you need to consider.
I think this book is a must-have for anyone working with PowerShell. For those starting with PowerShell, I recommend first reading the books “Learn Windows PowerShell In A Month Of Lunches” and “Learn PowerShell Toolmaking In A Month Of Lunches” and then read this book.
Notes:
- On the Microsoft Scripting Guy some great PowerShell best practices blog posts have been posted recently.
- PowerShell.org also has many great free e-books including one about best practices.
- Microsoft and the PowerShell team have been working very hard and since the book’s release they have improved Desired State Configuration (DSC) and released two Windows PowerShell 5.0 previews containing modules to manage networkswitches (NetworkSwitch), applications (OneGet), and modules (PowershellGet).
- The useful Script Browser and Script Analyzer have been released since then and are worth checking out.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
