Returning JSON from PHP to JavaScript? Returning JSON from PHP to JavaScript? php php

Returning JSON from PHP to JavaScript?


Php has an inbuilt JSON Serialising function.

json_encode

json_encode

Please use that if you can and don't suffer Not Invented Here syndrome.


Here are a couple of things missing in the previous answers:

  1. Set header in your PHP:

    header('Content-type: application/json');echo json_encode($array);
  2. json_encode() can return a JavaScript array instead of JavaScript object, see:
    Returning JSON from a PHP Script
    This could be important to know in some cases as arrays and objects are not the same.


There's a JSON section in the PHP's documentation. You'll need PHP 5.2.0 though.

As of PHP 5.2.0, the JSON extension is bundled and compiled into PHP by default.

If you don't, here's the PECL library you can install.

<?php    $arr = array ('a'=>1,'b'=>2,'c'=>3,'d'=>4,'e'=>5);    echo json_encode($arr); // {"a":1,"b":2,"c":3,"d":4,"e":5}?>