On Wednesday, September 2nd at 2pm EDT (1pm CDT), I’ll be presenting the September TechSession Webinar for PowerShell.org. The topic for this month’s session is: “The Top 10 Considerations When Writing PowerShell Advanced Functions”.
Here’s what you can expect from my presentation:
There are lots of things to consider when writing an advanced function in PowerShell depending on what the function will be designed to accomplish, what operating system and PowerShell versions it will be written for, and who will be using it.
I wanted to call your attention to Smarterer, a company recently acquired by my employer, Pluralsight. Smarterer’s schtick (apart from vexing my auto-correct) is that the host crowdsourced technology assessments. In other words, the community decides what questions to ask someone in the test.
The magic is that their back-end engine, over time, figures out which questions are awesome and which ones suck, and adjusts the assessment accordingly. So as more people (especially qualified ones) take the test, the better it gets at identifying skilled people.
In honor of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), I wanted to offer a smaller, and more unique, challenge.
Send me a PowerShell article.
Seriously. My name is Don Jones, and this is PowerShell.org, so you can probably figure out how to contact me. Send me an article between 800 and 3,000 words (including code) in Microsoft Word format. Don’t attach any scripts. Please keep the formatting super-simple: paste code from the PowerShell ISE, and use Word’s default styles otherwise.
As you may know, I helped developing the forthcoming Microsoft Official Courseware 10962A class, “Advanced Windows PowerShell.” It’s a 3-day class that includes an overview of DSC, a full day of scripting and toolmaking, a Workflow overview, error handling and debugging, and more. It’s meant as a direct follow-on to the 5-day 10961 course. We’re scheduling a beta teach through a Microsoft training center in mid-August 2014. It’ll be taught by MCT Jason Yoder, who’s an excellent trainer (and who attended PowerShell Summit North America 2014 a few weeks ago, so you know he’s jiggy with PowerShell).
I’ve been working on a new lab guide for my classes, and thought I’d share an early version. Note that this may become unavailable at any point; the final version will go on MoreLunches.com, as the lab guide corresponds largely with Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches and Learn PowerShell Toolmaking in a Month of Lunches, as well as with several of the free ebooks here on PowerShell.org.
There’s some great PowerShell content now online for your viewing pleasure.
Jeffrey Snover and I had a blast doing “Windows PowerShell Unplugged,” and I reviewed some best PowerShell practices (and hopefully provided a little inspiration for your career) in “Windows PowerShell Best Patterns and Practices: Time to Get Serious.” And the #2 overall session of TechEd? “DSC: A Practical Overview,” including a surprise demo (and announcement) from Snover showing DSC running on Linux.
I’m going to be running a 3-day POWERCLASS April 2, 3, and 4 near Raleigh-Durham, NC! You can get full details on my company’s website, including pricing and class descriptions.
Don’t leave near Raleigh-Durham? Well, it’s a fun place, and not that expensive to visit. More importantly, I’m not going to be doing a huge road-show and visiting a bunch of cities. Right now, my schedule is almost full through _September, _so this may well be the only public class I do in 2014.
When I teach PowerShell, either at a private client or in a public class, I tend to use my own outlines. I’m comfortable with them, and they work really well. They formed the basis for the Microsoft 10961 and 55039 courses, although I had to make some changes to accommodate Microsoft standards and varying MCT delivery styles. But I’m often asked if there’s a “MOC-equivalent” outline that combines the entry-level 10961 with the scripting-focused 55039.
I’m in the midst of working on 10961C, the Windows Server 2012 R2 / Windows 8.1 / PowerShell 4.0 update of Microsoft’s 10961A/B course, “Automating Administration with Windows PowerShell.” I anticipate this being closed out by the end of November, 2013, so if you’ve taken or taught this course and have any feedback - even a typo - now’s the time to tell me. Drop a comment below, or e-mail me (if you have my address). Please, no Twitter replies on this one. The course will not be substantially changed from the B rev; because PowerShell v4 doesn’t change much, especially at the entry-level covered by 10961, there wasn’t much to alter. But I’m trying to sweep up as many lingering bugs and typos as possible. Kudos to MCT Jason Yoder for firing over a list of fixes!
Attention Microsoft training centers! Microsoft’s Courseware Marketplace now offers course 55039AC, “Windows PowerShell Scripting and Toolmaking.” Designed as a 5-day course, it’s a spiritual “Part 2” to Microsoft Official Curriculum course 10961.
With 10961, the goal was to provide a founding in PowerShell basics, in a somewhat product-neutral way. That is, the course doesn’t cover Exchange, or SharePoint, or AD; it focuses on pure PowerShell. Unlike its predecessor, 10325, the 10961 course kind of “stops short” of actual scripting.