Compare results from this to ifs.
echo "Test '1abc' == 1 - ";
if ('1abc' == 1) {
echo 'ok';
} else {
echo 'fail';
}
echo "\nTest '1abc' === 1 - ";
if ('1abc' === 1) {
echo 'ok';
} else {
echo 'fail';
}
Then read this page http://php.net/manual/en/language.types.type-juggling.php it's very interesting lecture ;)