Comments on: Using a Custom Class To Create JSON in PHP

By: Steve Clay

Steve Clay — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:23:00 +0000

@Jeff: You don’t need StdClass to get JSON objects, just an array with a non-numeric key.

By: Simon Willison

Simon Willison — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:17:57 +0000

“A less memory-intensive alternative to cloning would be to create an array of a subset of the object’s member variables and then json_encode these. This may be a strong solution, but it still requires custom code, much like the JsonUtil class shown in the example.” - yes, but it’s absolutely fundamentally The Right Way to do this. The whole point of JSON is that it lets you transfer data structures between different languages. The idea is that you create the data structure in your language and then call an encoding function to turn it in to a JSON string. That’s why JSON libraries exist! There really is no need to create an XML-style builder library to do this.

By: RODGER

RODGER — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:39:52 +0000

Everyone needs a hug. A GOOD HUG CAN MAKE ONES LIFE SEEM LIVEABLE AND WILL IMPROVE SOON!

By: Tim Sabat

Tim Sabat — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:54:23 +0000

Hey guys, thanks for keeping me on my toes! Because of the overwhelming outcry of love for json_encode, I’ve posted an update to my article explaining why I chose to write a custom Json class. Read about it above.

By: Kr0n

Kr0n — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:02:49 +0000

Right, another one for json_encode()

Would like to know though what’re Tim’s reasons to use the article class, instead of json_encode ;)

I use print_r to beautify json outputs, with a debug flag to turn it on. Tumblr guys do this also (http://www.tumblr.com/api)

By: Maciej ?ebkowski

Maciej ?ebkowski — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:01:21 +0000

In addition, in pre-5.2.x there was an external module for PHP, that added json_encode/decode functions. So even for not up-to-date installations there`s a really simple solution.

Cheers.

By: Zach

Zach — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 01:39:43 +0000

I agree, json_encode() is the way to go. Since you probably already have the data in an array/object, you can do it in one line. I’ve used in on a number of projects, and works great. Thanks for the tip about the TextMate JSON bundle, that will be helpful for debugging.

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:07:11 +0000

I’m with Jeff, why not use a standard object/array and seralize it. Like in this class: http://cesars.users.phpclasses.org/browse/file/20928.html

By: Ryan Parman

Ryan Parman — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:18:55 +0000

Yeah, json_encode() is built into PHP 5.2.x and is much, much better.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:55:24 +0000

Can you go back to the part of the article where you explain why you are using this class instead of creating beautiful Object/Array sets and simply using json_encode()?

I mean:

$data = new StdClass(); // initiating objects in php is kinda ugly... $data->submission = $Subfields; $json = json_encode($data);

Done?