.svg)
Tired of cumbersome PowerShell scripts? Learn how direct assignment of variables can simplify your code and significantly increase performance.
When you need to store the results of a command, you naturally assign it to a variable:
$result = Get-Process However, when you need to store results produced by a loop, many users resort to manual array handling:
# starting with an empty array
$result = @()
$list = 'Tobias',' Chrissy', 'Alex', 'Melinda', 'Jordan', 'Jeffrey'
foreach ($element in $list)
{
# manually putting results into array
$result += "processing $element"
}
$result.count
$resultWhy not simply assign the result to a variable again and let PowerShell take care of all the array handling?
$list = 'Tobias',' Chrissy', 'Alex', 'Melinda', 'Jordan', 'Jeffrey'
$result = foreach ($element in $list)
{
# not assigning information turns it into a return value
"processing $element"
}
$result.count
$resultThis is much easier, and its about 100x faster, too.
Note that you can assign anything to a variablewhether its a command, a control structure such as a loop, or even a condition. Most people write like this:
$date = Get-Date
if ($date.Hour -lt 12)
{
$text = 'morning'
}
else
{
$text = 'evening'
}
"It is $text."Why not assign the result to a variable just once and take it directly from the control structure:
$date = Get-Date
$text =
if ($date.Hour -lt 12)
{
'morning'
}
else
{
'evening'
}
"It is $text."Your ultimate PowerShell Cheat Sheet
Unleash the full potential of PowerShell with our handy poster. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned pro, this cheat sheet is designed to be your go-to resource for the most important and commonly used cmdlets.The poster is available for download and in paper form.
Related links
- ScriptRunner ActionPacks will help you automate tasks
- Try out ScriptRunner here
- ScriptRunner: Book a demo with our product experts