Where-Object Rocks!

PowerShell has some great filtering capabilities.  Where-Object is extremely versatile, allowing you to filter on any logic you can come up with.

I Feel a "But" Coming Up

However, many cmdlets, functions, or scripts have some built in filtering capabilities.  These are often optimized for the command, and if the command supports remote connections, often the filtering can happen on the remote host.  Where-Object is the least common denominator in filtering.

Use the Help

There are way to many commands and parameters to be familiar with them all.  I spend a good bit of time reviewing the built in help to see the parameters that are taken, whether they allow wildcards, and seeing what the examples are recommending.  Over time, you’ll develop a comfort level with certain commands and their options, but there are always going to be new ones to explore.

But What If I’m Only Working at the Command Line?

When I’m working at the command line, I’ll be more likely to use where-object, because speed in creating the command line is often more important than squeezing every last bit of performance or executing with perfect form.  When I write a script though, something that will be reusable, I try to take full advantage of what the commands offer.