Assignment operators in PowerShell - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

💻 Command Output

intermediate

What is the output of this PowerShell script using assignment operators?

Consider the following script. What will be the value of $a after execution?

PowerShell

$a = 10
$a += 5
$a *= 2
$a -= 4
$a

A 22

B 26

C 32

D 20

💡 Hint

Remember to apply each assignment operator step-by-step.

Start with $a = 10. Then $a += 5 makes $a 15. Next $a *= 2 makes $a 30. Finally $a -= 4 makes $a 26.

💻 Command Output

intermediate

What is the output of this script using string assignment operators?

What will be the value of $str after running this script?

PowerShell

$str = 'Hello'
$str += ' World'
$str += '!'

A Hello World!

B HelloWorld!

C Hello World !

D Hello+ World+!

💡 Hint

The += operator appends strings in PowerShell.

The += operator adds the string on the right to the existing string on the left without extra spaces.

📝 Syntax

advanced

Which option will cause a syntax error in PowerShell assignment?

Identify the option that will cause a syntax error when run in PowerShell.

A $a = 1; $a -= 1

B $y = 10; $y *= 2

C $x = 5; $x += 3

D $z = 7; $z + = 4

💡 Hint

Look carefully at the spacing and operator usage.

Option D uses '+ =' which is not a valid assignment operator in PowerShell and causes a syntax error.

🚀 Application

advanced

What is the value of $count after this loop with assignment operators?

Given this script, what is the final value of $count?

PowerShell

$count = 0
for ($i = 1; $i -le 5; $i++) {
  $count += $i
  if ($i % 2 -eq 0) {
    $count -= 1
  }
}
$count

A 13

B 14

C 15

D 10

💡 Hint

Add $i each time, but subtract 1 when $i is even.

Sum 1+2+3+4+5=15. Subtract 1 for i=2 and i=4 (two times), so 15-2=13. But careful: the subtraction happens inside the loop after adding i. The final count is 13.

🧠 Conceptual

expert

Which assignment operator will cause an error when used with a $null variable in PowerShell?

Assuming $var is $null, which assignment operation will cause a runtime error?

PowerShell

$var = $null
# Which operation causes error?

A $var += 5

B $var -= 3

C $var /= $null

D $var = 10

💡 Hint

Think about how PowerShell treats $null with arithmetic operators.

Dividing by $null causes an error because $null is treated as zero in the denominator, causing division by zero. Adding or subtracting treats $null as zero.