Req #53094 [Opn->Bgs]: Use '0' instead of '' as a result of converting boolean FALSE to string

Edit report at http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=53094&edit=1 ID: 53094 Updated by: rasmus@php.net Reported by: php-bugs at majkl578 dot cz Summary: Use '0' instead of '' as a result of converting boolean FALSE to string -Status: Open +Status: Bogus Type: Feature/Change Request Package: Scripting Engine problem Operating System: Irrelevant PHP Version: Irrelevant Block user comment: N New Comment: This would be extremely counterintuitive to most people since every language I know will return a zero-length string when boolean false is converted to a string. Having it return a non-zero length string would cause all sorts of backward compatibility problems as well. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2010-10-18 10:30:42] php-bugs at majkl578 dot cz Description: ------------ I'd like to propose a change in converting booleans to string. It'd be better if (string) FALSE returns '0' instead of empty string (''). Why to do so? a) More logical behavior. b) Using booleans in output would be meaningful. c) Backward-compatible change - as documentation says: "This allows conversion back and forth between boolean and string values." - this behavior is not changed by this, because (bool) '0' is FALSE. Test script: --------------- <?php echo (string) FALSE; //nothing now, '0' requested var_dump((bool) '0'); //FALSE, no change var_dump((string) FALSE === '0'); //FALSE, TRUE requested ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=53094&edit=1