Could you illustrate how any other language inspired Powershell in any way, beyond the most basic concept that it is a scripting language?
In bash/unix, I feel -l often stands for list, -a for all, -f for force, -q quiet or slient, -r recursive, -d debug. A modern approach could have been for Microsoft to clean it up and make it more consistent. But no.
>> Could you illustrate how any other language inspired Powershell in any way, beyond the most basic concept that it is a scripting language?
I just posted this elsewhere in the comments, but it does answer your question:
They originally based Powershell loosely on Perl and the Korn shell. In the first edition of "Powershell in Action" by Bruce Payette there is a sidenote that states:
'PowerShell uses the "at" symbol ("@") in a few places, has $_ as a default variable, and uses "&" as the function call operator. These elements lead people to say that PowerShell looks like Perl. In fact, at one point, we were using Perl as a root language, and these elements stem from the period. Later on, the syntax was changed to align more with C#, but we kept these elements because they worked well. In Perl terminology, they contributed significantly to the "whipupitude quotient" of the language.'
It also states:
'The core PowerShell language is based on the POSIX 1003.2 grammar for the Korn shell. Originally, Perl idioms were appropriated for some of the more advanced concepts such as hash tables. However, as the project progressed, it became clear that aligning PowerShell syntax with C# was more appropriate.'
> These elements lead people to say that PowerShell looks like Perl.
> whipupitude
Historical roots and original intentions aside, the verbosity of Powershell syntax and the clumsiness of the shell place Perl and Powershell on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of "looks" and the ability to quickly whip up something.
>> the verbosity of Powershell syntax and the clumsiness of the shell place Perl and Powershell on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of "looks" and the ability to quickly whip up something.
I completely agree.
I used Perl for many years and loved how quickly it could be used to hack together a quick solution to a problem.
I have been using PowerShell at home intermittently for the past few years and it feels much more clunky by comparison. It is nice to have a way to do automation on Windows (I have not tried it on other platforms), but the feel is very different.
In bash/unix, I feel -l often stands for list, -a for all, -f for force, -q quiet or slient, -r recursive, -d debug. A modern approach could have been for Microsoft to clean it up and make it more consistent. But no.