Arithmetic Operators
PowerShell supports the use of
arithmetic operators to perform
mathematical calculations. Table 4 describes the operators
and provides basic examples. In
addition to using the operators
for mathematical calculations,
you can use some of the operators
other ways. For example,
you can use the + operator to
concatenate string values:
“Use + to add two” +
“ “ + “strings together.”
Figure 6 shows the results of concatenating
these two values. This figure also shows the
results for the statement:
“abc” * 4
In this case, the * operator is used to multiply
a string value four times. As a result,
four copies of the value are returned, and
those values are concatenated into one
string.
My arithmetic-operator examples are
very basic. As you work through the lessons,
you’ll see more complex examples of how
these operators can be used. This section is
meant only to introduce you to the arithmetic
operators so that you can begin to use them.
To learn more about these types of operators,
see the about_arithmetic_operators Help
file.
Moving Forward
In this lesson, you learned that PowerShell
supports a number of operators that let you
create expressions and perform calculations.
However, this lesson doesn’t cover all operators.
For example, PowerShell also supports
bitwise operators that perform binary operations
and assignment operators that assign
values to variables. I’ll be covering many of
these operators as we progress through the
lessons. In the meantime, refer to the Power-Shell Help files to learn more about the available
operators.