How to use Zend_Json

Encoding PHP Data Structure

With Zend_Json, encoding PHP data structure into JSON formatted string is really easy. All you have to do is include Zend_Json to your PHP script and call Zend_Json::encode() with the variable you want to encode as parameter:

require_once 'Zend/Json.php';

$result = array('wine'=>3, 'sugar'=>4, 'lemon'=>22);

echo  Zend_Json::encode($result);

Running above script will produce a JSON representation of $result:

{"wine":3,"sugar":4,"lemon":22}

Reverse Operation: Decoding

Besides encoding, Zend_Json can also decode JSON formatted string. Provided a JSON formatted string, Zend_Json:decode() will transform it into native PHP array:

require_once 'Zend/Json.php';

$result = Zend_Json::decode( '{"wine":3,"sugar":4,"lemon":22}');

print_r( $result);

Above code will produce the following output:

Array
(
    [wine] => 3
    [sugar] => 4
    [lemon] => 22
)

As you can see, the result returned by Zend_Json::decode() in this example is an array and it holds the same data as the one in previous example.