[_rs]

I started programming with PHP, and I was easily able to apply all that knowledge of (rather basic) web-dev to the CLI. If I need a quick script my first instinct (besides bash) would be to fire up TextMate and write some PHP. As a beginner, whenever I needed to do something Google always had the right answer (e.g. "php check if string contains string"). This helped because I never felt like I was reading tons of documentation, and always gave me a quick answer. Once you use the same function a few times you generally remember it.