How to Convert Boolean to String

Question

I have a Boolean variable which I want to convert to a string:

$res = true;

I need the converted value to be of the format: \"true\"

Answer 1

I'm not a fan of the accepted answer as it converts anything which evaluates to false to "false" no just boolean and vis-versa.

Anyway here's my O.T.T answer, it uses the var_export function.

var_export works with all variable types except resource, I have created a function which will perform a regular cast to string ((string)), a strict cast (var_export) and a type check, depending on the arguments provided..

if(!function_exists('to_string')){

    function to_string($var, $strict = false, $expectedtype = null){

        if(!func_num_args()){
            return trigger_error(__FUNCTION__ . '() expects at least 1 parameter, 0 given', E_USER_WARNING);
        }
        if($expectedtype !== null  && gettype($var) !== $expectedtype){
            return trigger_error(__FUNCTION__ . '() expects parameter 1 to be ' . $expectedtype .', ' . gettype($var) . ' given', E_USER_WARNING);
        }
        if(is_string($var)){
            return $var;
        }
        if($strict && !is_resource($var)){
            return var_export($var, true);
        }
        return (string) $var;
    }
}

if(!function_exists('bool_to_string')){

    function bool_to_string($var){
        return func_num_args() ? to_string($var, true, 'boolean') : to_string();        
    }
}

if(!function_exists('object_to_string')){

    function object_to_string($var){
        return func_num_args() ? to_string($var, true, 'object') : to_string();        
    }
}

if(!function_exists('array_to_string')){

    function array_to_string($var){
        return func_num_args() ? to_string($var, true, 'array') : to_string();        
    }
}