Even with all of that, PHP still has strange quirks that aren't exactly obvious and are head-scratchers. Like the implicit type inference. One prominent example is that if all the keys in your "string" array are actually number strings like "123" and "456" then PHP will silently convert them to integers.

WTF?

So what is "PHP intended to be" in this case? And how is the above behaviour the sensible thing to do?

Whatever PHP "was intended to be", this is a gotcha that is absolutely unnecessary and sticks out like a sore thumb in today's ecosystem of stricter and more predictable and stable languages.

Let's not forget that commercial programming should not be about joining tribes that share your personal philosophy. It's about getting a job done. Predictability and stability help a lot with that.