How Do I Convert a PHP Array to a JSON Array Using `json_encode`?

Converting PHP Array to JSON Array Using json_encode

When working with PHP arrays, it's important to understand how they are represented in JSON when using json_encode. By default, PHP arrays are encoded as JSON objects when their keys are not sequential.

Consider the following PHP array:

$input = [
    [
        "id" => 0,
        "name" => "name1",
        "short_name" => "n1"
    ],
    [
        "id" => 2,
        "name" => "name2",
        "short_name" => "n2"
    ]
];

When attempting to encode this array using json_encode, the result would be the following JSON object:

{
    "0": {
        "id": 0,
        "name": "name1",
        "short_name": "n1"
    },
    "2": {
        "id": 2,
        "name": "name2",
        "short_name": "n2"
    }
}

This behavior occurs because the array keys are non-sequential (0 and 2). To encode the array as a JSON array, all keys must be sequential.

Solution: Reindexing with array_values

To convert the array to a sequential format, use the array_values function:

$output = json_encode(array_values($input));

This reindexes the array, starting with 0, ensuring sequential keys. The resulting JSON becomes an array:

[
    {
        "id": 0,
        "name": "name1",
        "short_name": "n1"
    },
    {
        "id": 2,
        "name": "name2",
        "short_name": "n2"
    }
]

By understanding PHP array representation in JSON and using array_values for sequential reindexing, you can successfully encode PHP arrays as JSON arrays using json_encode.

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