Although most people use PHP primarily as a Web development scripting system, it possesses all the characteristics of a proper general-purpose language that can be useful in a variety of other environments. In this article, I illustrate how it’s possible to use the command-line version of PHP to perform complex shell operations, such as manipulating data files, reading and parsing remote XML documents and scheduling important tasks through cron.

Articles like this seem to be cropping up a lot lately. Bodes well for the PHP fans out there. What I like about this one is the fact that he goes into making a lil program with PHP. Tired of reading just about the theory of making PHP greater than just a web-scripting language. Love to see it being done in practice.