PHP auto casts variables when it feels like it – because that's how get/post works – strings only.

Has this every caused you a problem that can not be solved elegantly differently?

Larger application requires more control and type checks and...

You can always write type-aware (but not checking) code, saves time and is less code thus faster.

There is also ext/filter

Why don't we have scalar type hints?

Why don't we have auto boxing?