Specifically, get/set-content works with providers that facilitate content reading and writing. Out-File works only with the FileSystem provider and is for all intents and purposes an alias to the > redirection operator.

An interesting thing to note about get-content and set-content is that you use them indirectly every day. Both the variable and function providers support get- and set-content, and when you use the dollar ($) syntax to read or write to a variable, you are implictly calling get-content and set-content against a path in the variable provider. E.g.

...is the same as:

e.g. set the content of item foo in the psdrive called "Variable" to 5. This is why you can also write to a file like:

...and read it back with:

Ultimately, when using the $ syntax, the "variable" drive is the default drive to read and write content from. Elegant, eh?

It’s getting harder to post useful scripting tips for PowerShell these days as there are so many talented hardcore scripting bloggers around. My day to day is job is not system/network/server administrator; I’m a .NET developer, having started the C# habit about eight or nine years ago with the early CLR 1.0 beta. So, from here on in, I’ve decided that a better direction for me to take from now on is that of a PowerShell developer,  as opposed to a scripter. There are very few (if any?) dedicated PowerShell developer blogs around, and so I figured I should try to fill that gap as best I can. I have a not insignificant amount of experience writing providers, cmdlets and other widgety bits, so it’s a good time to share my experiences. Of course, my way is not “the” way, so please reply with your own experiences/advice/mocking/whatever.

That said, I am not eschewing scripting altogether – I have some stuff in the pipeline (har-har) concerning areas I’m interested in, like eventing and jobs/remoting.