Question

I have never used PHP with CLI, but I have seen scripts running with PHP code.

I was wondering:

• Why should we use BASH, when PHP is so popular and is able to run in CLI?
• What are the pros and cons with each one?
• Should I use PHP for all CLI scripting in the future?

Answer 1

It is still much easier to perform many common tasks in bash. Consider writing PHP equivalents for the following bash one-liners:

# remove a folder full of rubbish
rm -rf oldTrashFolder

# create an archive of files containing the word 'localhost'
tar cf backup.tar $(grep -rlw localhost ~/my-source-code)

# make a copy of a mysql database
{ echo "create database NEWDATABASE; "; mysqldump OLDDATABASE; } | mysql NEWDATABASE