2 ms·

Does anyone else have trouble retaining the syntaxes, gotchyas, etc. from dozens of languages, hundreds of tools, 3 major operating systems... etc?

• jodrellblank 8y ago
  Yes, which is one reason I like PowerShell so much. As a shell, the tab completion, parameter completion, long names, makes it easier to discover, easier to understand, and easier to remember. Then it's a high level language too so if there's something that needs scripting, it doesn't mean a complete change from shell to Python/Ruby/Perl, it stays PowerShell. Then it's a .Net language too, so if there's something getting a bit big for it, it doesn't mean a complete change to C#/Java instead, it means a small change to PowerShell with .Net methods, then maybe PowerShell with a C# core (like Python with a C module, but still much easier to create). Of course there's a bit of XKCD "fix having too many things by adding another thing" going on. But, the fact that it covers the common shell tools with all their different syntaxes reasonably well, and it can be tuned to approach the speed of C# as well, makes it useful for a whole lot of situations, despite having a pretty huge syntax and list of warts, it still seems to come out well.