I see... So rather than, say, simply using the binary array data type already present in C, they decided that they needed to subvert strings to support passing

I see... So rather than, say, simply using the binary array data type already present in C, they decided that they needed to subvert strings to support passing non-string data, resulting in tens of thousands of lines of support code to parallel the C runtime library, thousands more lines of bridge code for any outside libraries they might want to make use of, and almost a million lines of PHP implementation code (not including extensions!) carrying this extra cognitive burden in order to support the 1% use case, resulting in countless bugs and security vulnerabilities whenever someone used the C library functions, or stopped on NUL (or not) by mistake. Sounds like a great plan.