Technology changes all the time in some ways. In others, it feels like we're just trying to do the same thing over and over in a slightly new way. I read Brian Kelley's blog on trouble learning Powershell, and I wasn't surprised. It's not that Brian can't learn Powershell or finds it confusing, it's that he already has skills in another area.
So why switch technologies? I know that I still fall back on VBScript at times because I don't have to think. I can bang out a script quickly to grab files and move them around. I know that it's easy as well in Powershell. I've written a few scripts, but it's not natural enough. I haven't had to bang out enough scripts to get that feeling to make it feel like the first tool I should reach for.
We tend to rely on those things that are comfortable or familiar. They give us a return on our investment, we use them quickly and they are handy. Is it any wonder that it's hard to get developers to change their mindset when working with SQL Server? Dealing with a row at a time, or a step-by-step listing of code is just their natural reaction.
When is it time to switch and learn something new? When does it make sense to make a new investment? I'd have to say that it's when you see a decent future in the new technology. When it appears that others have proven savings, like a task takes less time or you get better performance. Or that it's gaining enough traction that the vendor will stick with it. Unlike English Query, I think Powershell is something that Microsoft will stick with for some time.
Maybe it's time that I abandoned that "good enough" VBScript for Powershell.
Steve Jones
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