On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:51:38 -0400, Mark Tomko <[log in to unmask]>  
wrote:

> I wouldn't recommend PHP to learn as a programming language, if your  
> goal is to have a general purpose programming language at your  
> disposal.  PHP is a fine language for building dynamic web pages, but it  
> won't help you to slice and dice a big text file or process a bunch of  
> XML or do some other "odd job" that you don't want to do by hand.
>

To be precise, PHP can indeed do these kind of things, particularly in  
command line mode. I certainly don't recommend it, but if you're used to  
PHP for other reasons, and you already have it available to you, you can  
do 'odd jobs' with PHP. You can also use your teeth to open a tight bottle  
cap, the edge of a knife as a screwdriver, and duct tape to perform auto  
repairs.

Brian