Mastering Windows PowerShell Scripting - Third Edition

Variables, Arrays, and Hashtables

This chapter explores variables, along with a detailed look at arrays and hashtables, as these have their own complexities.

A variable in a programming language allows you to assign a label to a piece of information or data. A variable can be used and reused in the console, script, or function or in any other piece of code.

In this chapter, we're going to cover the following topics:

• Naming and creating variables
• Variable commands
• Variable provider
• Variable scope
• Types and type conversion
• Objects assigned to variables
• Arrays
• Hashtables
• Lists, dictionaries, queues, and stacks

A variable may be of any .NET type or object instance. The variable may be a string Hello World, an integer 42, a decimal 3.141, an ...