If the parameter is not provided, the default is either a zero or zero length string. In a case where more than one data type could be returned as a default, I would not omit specifying which I wanted as a safe guard. Not that it's wrong I guess, but why open that door if you don't have to?
You weren't over doing it. You had them in the wrong places. For most built in functions, what follows the function name must be enclosed. One exception would be Date().
The more we hear silence, the more we begin to think about our value in this universe.
Paraphrase of Professor Brian Cox.