Strings

Double vs single quotes

$name = 'Ada'
"Hello, $name!"
'Hello, $name!'
"Next year you'll be $(36 + 1)."
"Name length: $($name.Length)"
"Tab:`tafter tab"

Hello, Ada!
Hello, $name!
Next year you'll be 37.
Name length: 3
Tab:	after tab

• Double quotes expand variables and $( ... ) subexpressions.
• Single quotes keep everything literally.
• Inside double quotes, use $( ) for anything more than a plain variable — property access like $user.Name needs "$($user.Name)".
• The escape character is the backtick (`): `t tab, `n newline, `$ a literal dollar sign.

The format operator: -f

'{0} costs {1:N2}' -f 'Monitor', 249.99
'{0,-10}|{1,6:N1}' -f 'Keyboard', 89
'{0:D3}' -f 7
'{0:P0}' -f 0.256

Monitor costs 249.99
Keyboard  |  89.0
007
26%

-f fills numbered placeholders: {0} is the first value. After a colon, a format — N2 (number, 2 decimals), D3 (3 digits), P0 (percentage). After a comma, a width (negative means left-aligned). C formats currency using the computer's regional settings.

String methods and operators

$text = '  Hello, PowerShell World  '
$text.Trim()
$text.Trim().ToUpper()
$text.Trim().Replace('World', 'Friends')
$text.Trim().Split(', ')
'a,b,c' -split ','
'x', 'y', 'z' -join '-'
$text.Contains('Shell')
$text.Trim().StartsWith('Hello')

Hello, PowerShell World
HELLO, POWERSHELL WORLD
Hello, PowerShell Friends
Hello
PowerShell World
a
b
c
x-y-z
True
True

-split and -join are PowerShell operators; -split uses a regular expression.

Here-strings

A here-string spans several lines. The opening @" and closing "@ must be on their own lines:

$name = 'Ada'
$message = @"
Dear $name,
Thanks for signing up.
"@
$message

Dear Ada,
Thanks for signing up.

@' ... '@ is the literal (non-expanding) version.

Common mistakes

• "Total: $order.Total" prints the whole object followed by .Total. Write "Total: $($order.Total)".
• Using a backslash as an escape character — in PowerShell, \n is just a backslash and an n.