How to extract and access data from JSON using PHP?

Question

This is a general reference question and answer that covers many of the never-ending "How do I access data in JSON?" questions. It deals here with the broad basics of decoding JSON in PHP and accessing the results.

I have JSON:

{
    "type": "donut",
    "name": "Cake",
    "toppings": [
        { "id": "5002", "type": "Glazed" },
        { "id": "5006", "type": "Chocolate with Sprinkles" },
        { "id": "5004", "type": "Maple" }
    ]
}

How to decode it and access the resulting data in PHP?

Answer 1

<?php
$jsonData = '{
    "type": "donut",
    "name": "Cake",
    "toppings": [
        { "id": "5002", "type": "Glazed" },
        { "id": "5006", "type": "Chocolate with Sprinkles" },
        { "id": "5004", "type": "Maple" }
    ]
}';

// Decode the JSON
$data = json_decode($jsonData, true);

// Access the data
$type = $data['type'];
$name = $data['name'];
$toppings = $data['toppings'];

// Access individual topping details
$firstTopping = $toppings[0];
$firstToppingId = $firstTopping['id'];
$firstToppingType = $firstTopping['type'];

// Print the data
echo "Type: $type\n";
echo "Name: $name\n";
echo "First Topping ID: $firstToppingId\n";
echo "First Topping Type: $firstToppingType\n";
?>

In this example, json_decode() is used to decode JSON data into a PHP associative array. You can then access the individual elements of the array just like any PHP array.