PowerShell Training Demos

A curated collection of demo PowerShell (.ps1) scripts designed for teaching, live demonstrations, and team training sessions on core and advanced PowerShell concepts.

---

🧭 Recommended Learning Path

Level	Topic	Description & Key Concepts	Demo File
01 - Foundations	Editor Setup	VS Code extensions, recommended settings, formatting, and snippets.	Misc/VSCode_GettingStarted.ps1
	PSCustomObjects	Object creation ([PSCustomObject]), adding properties, cloning with .Copy(), ScriptMethods, and formatting files (.format.ps1xml).	CommonTechniques/PSCustomObjects.ps1
	Splatting	Cleaner code syntax with named parameter hashtables (@hashtable), dynamic parameter assembly, and array splatting (@array).	CommonTechniques/Splatting.ps1
	Switch Statements	Matching single/multiple values, wildcards, regex, script blocks, array looping, and control flow with continue.	CommonTechniques/Switches.ps1
02 - Functions	Function Basics	Basic vs. Advanced functions, naming conventions, parameter validation, comment-based help, and Begin/Process/End blocks.	PSFunctions/FunctionBasics.ps1
	Bound Parameters	Using $PSBoundParameters to inspect user-provided arguments vs. defaults, avoiding variable collisions, and conditional logic.	PSFunctions/PSBoundParameters.ps1
	Parameter Sets	Creating mutually exclusive parameter sets and using $PSCmdlet.ParameterSetName to route execution logic.	PSFunctions/PSCmdlet_ParameterSetName.ps1
	ShouldProcess	Implementing -WhatIf and -Confirm safety mechanisms using SupportsShouldProcess and ConfirmImpact.	PSFunctions/PSCmdlet_ShouldProcess.ps1
03 - Error Handling	Error Fundamentals	$ErrorActionPreference, terminating vs. non-terminating errors, and try/catch/finally.	ErrorHandling/Error_Demo1.ps1
	Error Inspection & Types	Inspecting $Error, catching specific .NET exception types, re-throwing errors, and custom error records.	ErrorHandling/Error_Demo2.ps1
	Silencing & .NET Errors	Silencing with -ErrorAction Ignore, handling terminating .NET exceptions vs. boolean return-code methods (TryParse).	ErrorHandling/Error_Demo3.ps1
	Scheduled Tasks & Exit Codes	Returning accurate exit codes from PowerShell for Windows Task Scheduler and automation monitoring tools.	ErrorHandling/Error_Demo4.ps1

---

🎯 How to Use These Demos

1. Interactive / Line-by-Line Execution: These files are designed to be run section-by-section in an interactive terminal or with VS Code (select lines and press F8).
2. Compatibility:
   • Demos run on Windows PowerShell 5.1 and modern cross-platform PowerShell 7+.
   • Note: Windows-specific demos (e.g., Scheduled Tasks, Windows ACLs) require a Windows environment.