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PHP json_decode() Function

❮ PHP JSON Reference

Example

Store JSON data in a PHP variable, and then decode it into a PHP object:

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

var_dump(json_decode($jsonobj));
?>
Run Example »

Definition and Usage

The json_decode() function is used to decode or convert a JSON object to a PHP object.


Syntax

json_decode(string, assoc, depth, options)

Parameter Values

Parameter Description
string Required. Specifies the value to be encoded
assoc Optional. Specifies a Boolean value. When set to true, the returned object will be converted into an associative array. When set to false, it returns an object. False is default
depth Optional. Specifies the recursion depth. Default recursion depth is 512
options Optional. Specifies a bitmask (JSON_BIGINT_AS_STRING, JSON_INVALID_UTF8_IGNORE, JSON_INVALID_UTF8_SUBSTITUTE, JSON_OBJECT_AS_ARRAY, JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR)

Technical Details

Return Value: Returns the value encoded in JSON in appropriate PHP type. If the JSON object cannot be decoded it returns NULL
PHP Version: 5.2+
PHP Changelog: PHP 7.3: Added JSON_THROWN_ON_ERROR option
PHP 7.2: Added JSON_INVALID_UTF8_IGNORE, and JSON_INVALID_UTF8_SUBSTITUTE options
PHP 5.4: Added JSON_BIGINT_AS_STRING, and JSON_OBJECT_AS_ARRAY options
PHP 5.4: Added options parameter
PHP 5.3: Added depth parameter

More Examples

Example

Store JSON data in a PHP variable, and then decode it into a PHP associative array:

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

var_dump(json_decode($jsonobj, true));
?>
Run Example »

Example

How to access the values from the PHP object:

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

$obj = json_decode($jsonobj);

echo $obj->Peter;
echo $obj->Ben;
echo $obj->Joe;
?>
Run Example »

Example

How to access the values from the PHP associative array:

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

$arr = json_decode($jsonobj, true);

echo $arr["Peter"];
echo $arr["Ben"];
echo $arr["Joe"];
?>
Run Example »

❮ PHP JSON Reference