Windows Powershell for Developers by Douglas Finke; Published by O’Reilly Media

PowerShell MVP and software developer Douglas Finke, has unravelled the power of the shell for developers in his new book “Windows Powershell for Developers”.

PowerShell as a scripting environment has enamoured the IT-Pros but, we do not see the same level of enthusiasm from the developers. This could be because there are few good resources they can turn to. This book, bridges that gap by taking a practical approach to development with the shell.

The first couple of chapters tell you why you need to invest time in PowerShell, how to install it and then in chapter three, you are taken on a quick tour of the language and its constructs. The chapter is aptly titled “The Dime Tour” because, after reading it you know you have seen something amazing and now you are even more excited to try it out.

After the first three chapters, the ride really gets interesting as we start with using template engines; then we are shown via the “Beaver Music Application”, how you could embed PowerShell in your application; interact with web services, XML, JSON, Twitter; generate UI using ShowUI; working with DLLs in the shell and with compilers via Roslyn; write domain specific languages; interact with COM objects and the ride finally glides towards a quick overview of what PowerShell V3 has to offer. The Appendix A. is also full of information that is very useful, and I feel it should have been a chapter on its own.

If you are developer and interested in PowerShell, this book shows you a pathway to the shell. The concepts are relevant and the examples are practical and even if you are not a developer you could learn some very interesting things from this book.

Windows Powershell for Developers by Douglas Finke; Published by O’Reilly Media