-- use like this:

local err, res = parseToURLArgs()
-- thanks golang for this idea

function parseToURLArgs(tb)
    function Err(err) return err, nil end
    function Ok(res) return nil, res end

    -- err checking
    if not tb then return Err('got nothing') end
    if type(tb) ~= 'table' then return Err('expected table, got '..type(tb)) end

    local str = '?'
    local index = 1
    for key, value in pairs(tb) do
        if index == 1 then
            str = str..key..'='..t(value)
        else
            str = str..'&'..key..'='..t(value)
        end
        index = index + 1
    end
    return Ok(str)
end