In the first three chapters, you reviewed the basics of PowerShell scripting. This chapter will take it one step further and will show you advanced coding techniques. We will spend some time reviewing options to work securely with credentials and how to work with external utilities in a reliable manner. After that, we will look in depth at getting the best performance out of your scripts by exploring what the engine has to offer. Lastly, we will see how to access web services, attach .NET events and apply custom formatting, and extend the PowerShell type system.

After completing this chapter, you will be able to design scripts with performance in mind, know when and how to use credentials, and call RESTful services.

We'll be covering the following topics in this chapter:

• Working with credentials
• Working with external utilities
• Pipeline and performance
• Working with APIs
• Working with events
• Custom formatting view
• Custom type extensions