What is Encode and Decode JSON Data in PHP

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How to Encode and Decode JSON Data in PHP

What is JSON?

JSON stands for JavaScript Object Notation, and is a syntax for storing and exchanging data.

Since the JSON format is a text-based format, it can easily be sent to and from a server, and used as a data format by any programming language.

PHP and JSON

PHP has some built-in functions to handle JSON.

First, we will look at the following two functions:

  • json_encode()
  • json_decode()

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PHP – json_encode()

The json_encode() function is used to encode a value to JSON format.

Example

This example shows how to encode an associative array into a JSON object:

$age = array("Peter"=>35, "Ben"=>37, "Joe"=>43);

echo json_encode($age);

output

{"Peter":35,"Ben":37,"Joe":43}

PHP - json_decode()

The json_decode() function is used to decode a JSON object into a PHP object or an associative array.

Example

This example decodes JSON data into a PHP object:

  • $jsonobj = ‘{“Peter”:35,”Ben”:37,”Joe”:43}’;
  • var_dump(json_decode($jsonobj));

output

object(stdClass)#1 (3) { ["Peter"]=> int(35) ["Ben"]=> int(37) ["Joe"]=> int(43) }

-> The json_decode() function returns an object by default. The json_decode() function has a second parameter, and when set to true, JSON objects are decoded into associative arrays.

Example

This example decodes JSON data into a PHP associative array:

$jsonobj = '{"Peter":35,"Ben":37,"Joe":43}';

var_dump(json_decode($jsonobj, true));

Output

array(3) { ["Peter"]=> int(35) ["Ben"]=> int(37) ["Joe"]=> int(43) }

 

PHP – Accessing the Decoded Values

Here are two examples of how to access the decoded values from an object and from an associative array:

Example

This example shows how to access the values from a PHP object:

$jsonobj = '{"Peter":35,"Ben":37,"Joe":43}';

$obj = json_decode($jsonobj);

 

PHP – Looping Through the Values

You can also loop through the values with a foreach() loop:

Example

This example shows how to loop through the values of a PHP object:

  • echo $obj->Peter;
  • echo $obj->Ben;
  • echo $obj->Joe;

Outpur

353743

 

PHP – Looping Through the Values

You can also loop through the values with a foreach() loop:

Example

This example shows how to loop through the values of a PHP object:

$jsonobj = '{"Peter":35,"Ben":37,"Joe":43}';

$obj = json_decode($jsonobj);

foreach($obj as $key => $value) {

  echo $key . " => " . $value . "<br>";

}

Output

Peter => 35

Ben => 37

Joe => 43

Example

This example shows how to loop through the values of a PHP associative array:

$jsonobj = '{"Peter":35,"Ben":37,"Joe":43}';

$arr = json_decode($jsonobj, true);

foreach($arr as $key => $value) {

  echo $key . " => " . $value . "<br>";

}

Output

Peter => 35

Ben => 37

Joe => 43

 

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