Example of pipeline difference between ForEach-Object cmdlet and foreach() statement in PowerShell

snippets_PipelineAndForEach-Object_vs_foreach.ps1

<#
While we can iterate over objects with both ForEach-Object and the foreach() statement, only ForEach-Object emits objects
to the pipeline. The foreach() statement does _not_, which prevents us from doing any further cool things with objects
that might be created in the foreach() statement's scriptblock

Some examples:
#>

## no objects returned to pipeline, so we are done with the interesting things immediately
PS C:\> foreach ($intI in 1..10) {New-Object -Type PSObject -Property @{SomeCoolProperty = $intI}} | Measure-Object -Sum -Property SomeCoolProperty
At line:1 char:92
+ … bject -Type PSObject -Property @{SomeCoolProperty = $intI}} | Measure …
+                                                               ~
An empty pipe element is not allowed.
+ CategoryInfo          : ParserError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : EmptyPipeElement


## but, ForEach-Object puts our juicy objects on the pipeline so we can continue our interesting interactions with said objects
PS C:\> 1..10 | ForEach-Object {New-Object -Type PSObject -Property @{SomeCoolProperty = $_}} | Measure-Object -Sum -Property SomeCoolProperty

Count             : 10
Average           :
Sum               : 55
Maximum           :
Minimum           :
StandardDeviation :
Property          : SomeCoolProperty


## less natural / slightly more cumbersome, but we could, of course, create a new variable to hold the resultant objects,
#    and in a subsequent command, do something with the objects
PS C:\> $arrTmp = foreach ($intI in 1..10) {New-Object -Type PSObject -Property @{SomeCoolProperty = $intI}}
PS C:\> $arrTmp | Measure-Object -Sum -Property SomeCoolProperty

Count             : 10
Average           :
Sum               : 55
Maximum           :
Minimum           :
StandardDeviation :
Property          : SomeCoolProperty

## and, we could use a subexpression "$(foreach(...) {...})" to eventually get objects on the pipeline, but that defeats the
#    whole power of the pipeline principle in PowerShell :frownie_face:

## Example of using the power of the pipeline (and being done after just the first object)
## ~0.5 seconds when getting just the first object :thumbs_way_up:
PS C:\> Measure-Command {1..1000 | ForEach-Object {Start-Sleep -Seconds 0.5; $_} | Select-Object -First 1}

Days              : 0
Hours             : 0
Minutes           : 0
Seconds           : 0
Milliseconds      : 506
Ticks             : 5061489
TotalDays         : 5.85820486111111E-06
TotalHours        : 0.000140596916666667
TotalMinutes      : 0.008435815
TotalSeconds      : 0.5061489
TotalMilliseconds : 506.1489

## Example of defeating one of the main purposes of the pipeline, causing _all_ objects to be considered before continuing
#    on down the pipeline (the whole subexpression "$(...)" has to complete before any objects are then emitted down the pipeline)
## 8+ minutes to get just the first object! :thumbs_down:
PS C:\> Measure-Command {$(foreach ($intI in 1..1000) {Start-Sleep -Seconds 0.5; $intI}) | Select-Object -First 1}

Days              : 0
Hours             : 0
Minutes           : 8
Seconds           : 20
Milliseconds      : 92
Ticks             : 5000923992
TotalDays         : 0.00578810647222222
TotalHours        : 0.138914555333333
TotalMinutes      : 8.33487332
TotalSeconds      : 500.0923992
TotalMilliseconds : 500092.3992

## and, as you see, these varied times are specific to further object consumption down the pipeline (the way that we get exactly what we want in PS)
#    The overall run duration to get all 1000 objects in either of these ways is the same, but part of the point is that we do not
#    always need all 1000 objects