Working with JSON in PHP (API Ready)

JSON is the language of APIs. PHP works with JSON very easily.

Decode JSON (string to PHP array)

$json = '{"name":"Emma","age":28}';
$data = json_decode($json, true);

echo $data['name'];

The true means “convert to associative array”.

Encode JSON (PHP array to JSON string)

$user = ["name" => "Emma", "age" => 28];
echo json_encode($user);

Return JSON response (API style)

<?php
header('Content-Type: application/json');

$response = ["status" => "ok", "message" => "Hello API"];
echo json_encode($response);
?>

Graph idea: JSON pipeline

flowchart LR
  A[Client sends JSON] --> B[PHP json_decode]
  B --> C[Process in PHP]
  C --> D[PHP json_encode]
  D --> E[Client receives JSON]

Next: Connect PHP to MySQL using PDO, the safe modern way.