PHP as a general scripting language?

Hi, What are the pros and cons to using PHP as a scripting language like Perl or Python? After a couple of years using this excellent language for dynamic web pages (its first purpose), I'm currently starting to program shell scripts with PHP. Doing so I encountered some minor problems I turned around like the need to have 2 .ini files, one for web programming and another for shell scripting: for instance I don't want error messages cluttered with HTML tags on shell scripts but I need them for web PHP scripts and so on. Some behaviors are also missing like the ability to fork() a process for instance. Before going too far, I would like to know what other PHP users/gurus think about using PHP as a general scripting language, what should be avoided and what are the drawbacks I should take care of. Before someone ask me why not use Perl or Python: I don't like Perl, I prefer Python, I use it too but I'm not as easy with it as I am with PHP and I'd prefer put all my efforts in a single language if it can bring me all I expect... Thanks for any suggestion, idea, comments. --Gildas. -- /-----------------------------*-----------------------------\ | Systèmes & Technologies | Tél: +33 2 96438787 | | Informatiques du Ponant | Fax: +33 2 96438788 | | 27, rue Auguste Brizeux | email: gildas@stip.fr | | 22200 Guingamp - France | web: http://www.stip.fr | \-----------------------------*-----------------------------/