information request

Hello, I have been using php for some time now and am interrested in exploring how php handles strings. There are some things about the way php does things I find "ugly" but I would like to know more before I go making proposals. I have read the docs and searched the php-dev list but have not found the kind of in depth discussion on the internals and strings that I am looking for. Specifically I am interrested in variable interpolation and all the side effects of double quotes (I consider addslashes/stripslashes to be a kind of "side effect" as they are only necessary because of the "magic" of double quotes - as I understand it now. But then that is why I am asking for more information. There could be more to it.) Thankyou for your time and attention. Martin