Over the last year, I’ve written a lot about PowerShell scripting. I’ve shown you many PowerShell functions and explained their mechanics. Parameters play an essential role in your PowerShell function, and I’ve tried to provide guidance where I could. I thought it would be beneficial to consolidate concepts. At first glance, the idea of a PowerShell parameter isn’t that big of a deal. You define a parameter like $ComputerName, that will be used throughout your function. But I think there’s more than the mechanics of defining a parameter.

The idea of parameter planning is why this newsletter exists. I believe there are intangible and undocumented elements in PowerShell that you need to consider if you want to write the best PowerShell code that you can. The mechanics are easy. Knowing what to define and why may not be as straightforward as you think.

Why Parameters?

Let’s begin with a deceptively easy question: why do we need parameters? Consider this basic PowerShell function.