TOPIC
about_Operator_Precedence
SHORT DESCRIPTION
Lists the Windows PowerShell operators in precedence order.
LONG DESCRIPTION
Windows PowerShell operators let you construct simple, but powerful
expressions. This topic lists the operators in precedence order.
Precedence order is the order in which Windows PowerShell evaluates
the operators when multiple operators appear in the same expression.
When operators have equal precedence, Windows PowerShell evaluates
them from left to right. The exceptions are the assignment operators,
the cast operators, and the negation operators (!, -not, -bnot),
which are evaluated from right to left.
You can use enclosures, such as parentheses, to override the
standard precedence order and force Windows PowerShell to evaluate
the enclosed part of an expression before an unenclosed part.
In the following list, operators are listed in the order that they
are evaluated. Operators on the same line, or in the same group, have
equal precedence.
The Operator column lists the operators. The Reference column lists
the Windows PowerShell Help topic in which the operator is described.
To display the topic, type "get-help <topic-name>".
OPERATOR REFERENCE
-------- ---------
$() @() about_Operators
. (dereference) :: (static) about_Operators
[0] (index operator) about_Operators
[int] (cast operators) about_Operators
-split (unary) -join (unary) about_Split, about_Join
, (comma operator) about_Operators
++ -- about_Assignment_Operators
-not ! -bNot about_Logical_Operators, about_Comparison_Operators
.. (range operator) about_Operators
-f (format operator) about_Operators
* / % about_Arithmetic_Operators
+ - about_Arithmetic_Operators
The following group of operators have equal precedence. Their
case-sensitive and explicitly case-insensitive variants have
the same precedence.
-split (binary) about_Split
-join (binary) about_Join
-is -isnot -as about_Type_Operators
-eq -ne -gt -gt -lt -le about_Comparison_Operators
-like -notlike about_comparison_operators
-match -notmatch about_comparison_operators
-contains -notcontains about_comparison_operators
-replace about_comparison_operators
The list resumes here with the following operators in precedence
order:
-band -bor -bxor about_Comparison_Operators
-and -or -xor about_Comparison_Operators
. (dot-source) & (call) about_Scopes, about_Operators
| (pipeline operator) about_Operators
> >> 2> 2>> 2>&1 about_Redirection
= += -= *= /= %= about_Assignment_Operators
EXAMPLES
The following two commands show the arithmetic operators and
the effect of using parentheses to force Windows PowerShell to
evaluate the enclosed part of the expression first.
C:\PS> 2 + 3 * 4
14
C:\PS> (2 + 3) * 4
20
The following example gets the read-only text files from the local
directory and saves them in the $read_only variable.
$read_only = get-childitem *.txt | where-object {$_.isReadOnly}
It is equivalent to the following example.
$read_only = ( get-childitem *.txt | where-object {$_.isReadOnly} )
Because the pipeline operator (|) has a higher precedence than the
assignment operator (=), the files that the Get-ChildItem cmdlet
gets are sent to the Where-Object cmdlet for filtering before they
are assigned to the $read_only variable.
The following example demonstrates that the index operator takes
precedence over the cast operator.
The first expression creates an array of three strings. Then, it
uses the index operator with a value of 0 to select the first object
in the array, which is the first string. Finally, it casts the
selected object as a string. In this case, the cast has no effect.
C:\PS> [string]@('Windows','PowerShell','2.0')[0]
Windows
The second expression uses parentheses to force the cast operation
to occur before the index selection. As a result, the entire array
is cast as a (single) string. Then, the index operator selects
the first item in the string array, which is the first character.
C:\PS> ([string]@('Windows','PowerShell','2.0'))[0]
W
In the following example, because the -gt (greater-than) operator
has a higher precedence than the -and (logical AND) operator, the
result of the expression is FALSE.
C:\PS> 2 -gt 4 -and 1
False
It is equivalent to the following expression.
C:\PS> (2 -gt 4) -and 1
False
If the -and operator had higher precedence, the answer would be TRUE.
C:\PS> 2 -gt (4 -and 1)
True
However, this example demonstrates an important principle of managing
operator precedence. When an expression is difficult for people to
interpret, use parentheses to force the evaluation order, even when it
forces the default operator precedence. The parentheses make your
intentions clear to people who are reading and maintaining your scripts.
SEE ALSO
about_Assignment_Operators
about_Comparison_Operators
about_Join
about_Logical_Operators
about_Operators
about_Redirection
about_Scopes
about_Split
about_Type_Operators