JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write and easy for machines to parse and generate. 

It's commonly used for transmitting data between a web server and a web application.

JSON provides a simple and flexible way to exchange data between different programming languages and platforms.

PHP JSON use two type of functions

  1. json_encode() - Array To  JSON String
  2. json_decode() - JSON String to Array

Example - json_encode()

<?php
$udata = array(
    'name' => 'Tutorials on Web',
    'age' => 30,
    'email' => 'info@tutorialsonweb.com'
);
$jsonData = json_encode($udata);
echo $jsonData;
?>
  • We have a PHP associative array $udata containing some sample data.
  • We use the json_encode() function to convert the PHP array into a JSON string.

OutPut:

{"name":"Tutorials on Web","age":30,"email":"info@tutorialsonweb.com"}

Example - json_decode() 

<?php
$jsondata = '{"name":"Tutorials on Web","age":30,"email":"info@tutorialsonweb.com"}';
$data = json_decode($jsondata, true);
?>
  • We have a JSON string $jsonData.
  • We use the json_decode() function to convert the JSON string into a PHP associative array.

OutPut:

Name: Tutorials on Web
Age: 30
Email: info@tutorialsonweb.com