JSON operations (ConvertFrom-Json, ConvertTo-Json) in PowerShell - Mini Project: Build & Apply

JSON operations (ConvertFrom-Json, ConvertTo-Json)

📖 Scenario: You work in a small company that stores employee information in JSON format. You want to read this data, update it, and then save it back as JSON.

🎯 Goal: Learn how to convert JSON text into PowerShell objects using ConvertFrom-Json, modify the data, and then convert it back to JSON text using ConvertTo-Json.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a JSON string variable with employee data

Convert the JSON string to a PowerShell object

Add a new employee to the object

Convert the updated object back to JSON and display it

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Many systems use JSON to store and exchange data. PowerShell scripts often need to read, update, and write JSON data for automation tasks.

💼 Career

Understanding JSON operations in PowerShell is useful for IT administrators, DevOps engineers, and automation specialists who manage configurations and data in JSON format.

1

Create a JSON string with employee data

Create a variable called jsonData and assign it this exact JSON string: '{"employees":[{"name":"Alice","age":30},{"name":"Bob","age":25}]}'

PowerShell

# Create a variable called jsonData with the given JSON string
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use single quotes around the JSON string to avoid escaping double quotes inside.

2

Convert JSON string to PowerShell object

Use ConvertFrom-Json to convert jsonData into a variable called employeeObj.

PowerShell

$jsonData = '{"employees":[{"name":"Alice","age":30},{"name":"Bob","age":25}]}'
# Convert jsonData to employeeObj using ConvertFrom-Json
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use $employeeObj = ConvertFrom-Json $jsonData to convert the JSON string.

3

Add a new employee to the object

Add a new employee with name "Charlie" and age 28 to the employees array inside employeeObj.

PowerShell

$jsonData = '{"employees":[{"name":"Alice","age":30},{"name":"Bob","age":25}]}'
$employeeObj = ConvertFrom-Json $jsonData
# Add new employee to employeeObj.employees
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use $employeeObj.employees += @{name='Charlie'; age=28} to add the new employee.

4

Convert the updated object back to JSON and display it

Use ConvertTo-Json to convert employeeObj back to JSON and print it with Write-Output.

PowerShell

$jsonData = '{"employees":[{"name":"Alice","age":30},{"name":"Bob","age":25}]}'
$employeeObj = ConvertFrom-Json $jsonData
$employeeObj.employees += @{name='Charlie'; age=28}
# Convert employeeObj back to JSON and print it
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use $jsonOutput = ConvertTo-Json $employeeObj and then Write-Output $jsonOutput.