Use C# in PowerShell

PowerShell is a cross-platform language build on top of .Net framework which accepts and returns objects. PowerShell can access the libraries written in C#, VB, jScript.

Scripts are usually build using PowerShell cmdlets but we can use the libraries coded in C#.

Embed C# (CSharp) code directly in PowerShell

Below example shows how to use C# (CSharp) code directly in PowerShell

#Defining Class in C# with functionality methods

$Source = @"
using System;
namespace CustomNamespace
{
    public class CustomClass
    {
        //Function to Split the string
        public string[] Split(string value, char delimiter)
        {
            string[] strArray = value.Split(delimiter);
            return strArray;
        }

        //Function to sort
        public string[] Sorts(string[] strArray)
        {
            Array.Sort(strArray);
            return strArray;
        }
    }
}
"@

#Adding the C# source code to powershell    
Add-Type -TypeDefinition $Source -Language CSharp

#Creating the object of the class defined in C#
$objCustomClass = New-Object CustomNamespace.CustomClass

#Sorting array of string
"Sorting array of string`n" | Out-Host
$arrays = "b","a","c"
"Original array" | Out-Host
$arrays

#Sorting using C# custom method
"Sorted array using C#" | Out-Host
$objCustomClass.Sorts($arrays)

#Sorting using PowerShell by using dotnet class
"Sorted array using PowerShell" | Out-Host
[Array]::Sort($arrays)
$arrays


#Split string
"`n`nSplit function`n" | Out-Host
$str = "one,two,three"
$delimiter = ","
"Source string is : " + $str + " `nand delimiter is : " + $delimiter + "`n"| Out-Host
#Split using C# custom method
"Split string using C#" | Out-Host
$objCustomClass.Split($str, $delimiter)

#Split using powershell
"Split string using PowerShell" | Out-Host
$str.Split($delimiter)

Result

Benefits of using C# (CSharp) in PowerShell

1. .Net codes are faster than PowerShell scripts
2. Can use the existing libraries coded in C# or vb

Hope this is helpful and thank you for reading.