title: Method to check if input is a string
body: <p>I'm writing a method to check if an input is a string. I have this so far:</p>
  
  <pre><code>public function stringCheck($string){
  
      if (!empty($string) &amp;&amp; is_string($string)){
          return true;
      }else {
          return false;
      }
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>However, it will always return true because is_string accepts integers as well. Is there an alternative to is_string? I just want to make sure the input is not empty and is in fact a string (checking the length would be cool as well). </p>
  
  <p>Cheers</p>