PoshBytes: CmdletBinding The Secret Sauce for Advanced Functions
PoshBytes: CmdletBinding The Secret Sauce for Advanced Functions In this PoshBytes episode, we turn a humble PowerShell function into an advanced function using CmdletBinding. You will see common parameters come alive, WhatIf and Confirm safety nets, and a pipeline-friendly pattern you can reuse everywhere. This post is a companion for the video embedded below. Scroll down to see the code from...
PoshBytes: PowerShell Splatting – The Art of Throwing Parameters With Style
PoshBytes: PowerShell Splatting – The Art of Throwing Parameters With Style In this PoshBytes episode, you will learn PowerShell splatting to make long commands readable and reusable. We will also demo PSNotes cmdlets that generate splats for you and convert existing commands into splatted form. This post is a companion for the video embedded below. Scroll down to see the code...
PoshBytes Versus: Holiday Color Rumble – Write-Host vs ANSI vs PSStyle
PoshBytes Versus: Holiday Color Rumble – Write-Host vs ANSI vs PSStyle In this PoshBytes Versus we pit Write-Host -ForegroundColor against ANSI escape sequences and $PSStyle.Foreground in a three way holiday color showdown using an ASCII Christmas tree and menorah. See how to go from basic console colors to full RGB lights without setting your terminal on fire. This post is...
PoshBytes: 12 Logical Days of Christmas
PoshBytes: 12 Logical Days of Christmas Use PowerShell loops and Unicode-safe logic to generate the 12 Days of Christmas with while learning why CharArray breaks certain elements and how StringInfo fixes it. This post is a companion for the video embedded below. Scroll down to see the code from the video. Logical 12 Days of Christmas (No Emojis Yet) Set ordinal...
Invoke-WebRequest Hangs
On December 9, 2025, Microsoft shipped a security update that changes how Invoke-WebRequest behaves in Windows PowerShell 5.1. This change is important for anyone who uses PowerShell for automation, monitoring, configuration management, or CI/CD pipelines. The short version:Invoke-WebRequest no longer runs automatically in all cases. It now displays a security confirmation prompt before processing web pages unless you specify safe...
PoshBytes: Your .NET Path Toolkit for PowerShell
PoshBytes: Your .NET Path Toolkit for PowerShell A fast paced walkthrough of the most useful System.IO.Path methods in PowerShell with practical demos and humor. Learn how to extract filenames, change extensions, combine paths, and manage temporary files. This post is a companion for the video embedded below. Scroll down to see the code from the video. Getting the File Name Extract...
Saving Christmas with PowerShell: Building a Reusable Matching Algorithm
Saving Christmas with PowerShell: Building a Reusable Matching Algorithm What starts as a simple Secret Santa script quickly turns into a full-blown constraint-based matching engine. In this video, we’ll walk you through the entire creation process. Starting with a simple shuffle, building constraints, adding backtracking, and ending with a polished, reusable matching function you can drop into any project. This...
PoshBytes: Numeric Precision in PowerShell
PoshBytes: Numeric Precision in PowerShell In this PoshBytes short you will see how PowerShell can silently lose precision when big integer math is promoted to double and how using the right numeric types and decimal literals helps keep your results exact. This post is a companion for the video embedded below. Scroll down to see the code from the video. Tiny...
PoshBytes: Mastering Here-Strings in PowerShell
PoshBytes: Mastering Here-Strings in PowerShell Learn PowerShell here-strings the fast way with practical examples. We cover expandable vs literal, JSON without escaping, regex patterns, file generation, inline scripts, and how to stop your text from fighting back. This post is a companion for the video embedded below. Scroll down to see the code from the video. Expandable vs. Literal Here-Strings Setup...
PoshBytes: Json Vs Csv
PoshBytes: Json Vs Csv In this PoshBytes Versus episode, ConvertTo-Csv and ConvertTo-Json go head to head to see which format handles your PowerShell data best. Learn how each manages types, nesting, and readability so you can choose the right tool for your next automation. This post is a companion for the video embedded below. Scroll down to see the code from...
My name is Matthew Dowst and I am a father, author, blogger, Microsoft MVP in PowerShell and Azure Hybrid & Migration. And I am an enthusiast of all things PowerShell and DevOps.
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