If you are looking for materials related to Microsoft Course 55039, be advised that Don no longer owns or maintains the course. Please contact the current course owner via Courseware Marketplace.

Change the Way You Code in PowerShell!

Veteran PowerShell experts and authors Don Jones and Jeffery Hicks bring you an all-new, "Agile-published" book on PowerShell Scripting and "Toolmaking." Written in their inimitable, approachable style with plenty of examples, this book focuses on an all-new narrative based on their teaching experiences since 2010. You'll not only learn "how to script" in PowerShell, you'll learn the far more important patterns and practices that will enable you to create reusable tools that look and work like native PowerShell commands. You'll also learn a world of related topics, including how to add database access to your tools, how to publish to public and private repositories, and even an introduction to key topics like Pester testing.

Thousands of IT professionals have, after experiencing Don & Jeff's classes and books, remarked that, "now I need to go home and rewrite everything I've done!" That's what this book will do for you: change the way you think about coding in PowerShell. You'll find yourself producing more efficient, more reusable tools, more easily and more quickly. You'll cement a deep understanding of not only how PowerShell works, but why it works that way, helping you make better script design decisions, and helping you execute better PowerShell tools from now on.

This book is very much "Part 3" in Don and Jeff's approach to teaching PowerShell. Part 1 is their bestselling Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches (Manning), the "pre-scripting" PowerShell book that covers the shell's inner workings, core patterns, and basic usage. Part 2 is PowerShell Scripting in a Month of Lunches, which covers the entry-level aspects of scripting, including the foundational narrative of "the right way" to build functions and tools. This book picks up where they leave off, providing a rapid rundown of that "right way," and quickly moving into more "grown-up" scripting techniques, advanced approaches, data handling, and a lot more. As an Agile-published book, Don and Jeff can continue to update this book, as the more-advanced topics (more so than the entry-level ones) are the ones affected by new version releases.

APPLIES TO MANY VERSIONS OF POWERSHELL! If you're using PowerShell v4, v5, v5.1, or PowerShell 7, you'll find everything in this book is applicable to you in some form or another (although in PowerShell Core or PowerShell 7, any Windows-specific examples may not be functional).

NOW COVERS PESTER! Take your scripting to the next level by incorporating professional unit-testing using the ubiquitous Pester testing framework for PowerShell. A whole new section of this book covers everything you'll need to know to get started.

See the Contents

Use the "Table of Contents" link to see the complete table of contents for the full book. This does change and evolve as we work on the book. Note that the free sample reviews the complete ToC, but isn't necessarily up to date or entirely complete.

Hands-On Labs

You'll even find review questions and hands-on labs, complete with sample solutions, along with a short lab setup guide. These features will help you practice what you're learning, and make the book suitable for use in classroom settings (we recommend contacting the authors for an inexpensive site license, if you're a training center; we also provide slide decks, delivery guides, and other materials as part of a training center or trainer license).

We Publish as We Go

This is an Agile-published book, which means the authors are releasing it as they write it, and will continue to update the book as the underlying technology evolves over time. Assuming you meet the pre-requisites, this is the last book you'll ever need to buy on this topic, because your one-time purchase grants you lifetime access to updates and new content. We'll even email you via LeanPub (if you opt-in) when there's fresh content for you.

About Our Pricing

The price for this book might seem high. But that's because it's the last you'll ever have to buy. We won't be after you for a "second edition" in a couple of years, because you'll get each new update and release for free. So the higher price? This reflects that fact that you're paying up-front for what amounts to a lifetime subscription - we'll never come after you for more money for some future edition, reprinting, or update.

Check Out the Free Sample

The free sample includes sample chapters, but why bother? LeanPub has a no-questions-asked refund policy, so it's completely risk-free to grab the "real" book and see what you think. We trust you to do the right thing!

What Formats are Available?

All LeanPub books are offered in PDF, MOBI, and EPUB, and you get all three with your purchase. Note that the PDF is probably the "highest fidelity" version, especially in terms of code listings.

How Can I Contact the Authors?

We love feedback. Use the "Email the Authors" link, just below, to contact us. For feedback on the book, please provide a chapter, heading, and short snippet of text to let us know where you're looking - page numbers don't do any good, as they don't correspond with our source files.

A Note on Other Booksellers

Note that "Numbered Editions" of this book may also be available on Amazon or through other booksellers (e.g., "First Edition," "Second Edition," etc.) These are "snapshots" of the LeanPub version from a particular project milestone. Purchases made elsewhere are a one-time purchase, and do not include ongoing updates to the content. If you purchased the book elsewhere, we regrettably cannot somehow give you access to the LeanPub version, nor will you receive future updates at no charge.