strcmp(str1, str2): Returns < 0 if str1 is less than str2;
> 0 if str1 is greater than str2, and 0 if they are equal.
http://php.net/manual/en/function.strcmp.php
basic test
a < z
strcmp says: a < z
numeric strings
22 < 123
strcmp says: 123 < 22
non-numeric strings
abc < bb
strcmp says: abc < bb
non-numeric strings with numbers in
should be the same as 'numeric strings' if strcmp() really does string comparison
123x < 22x
strcmp says: 123x < 22x
numbers
22 < 123
strcmp says: 123 < 22