What are some best practices for handling JSON data in PHP to avoid errors or inconsistencies?

When handling JSON data in PHP, it is important to properly decode the JSON string into an associative array using the `json_decode()` function. This helps avoid errors and inconsistencies that may arise from incorrectly formatted JSON data. Additionally, it is recommended to use the `json_last_error()` function to check for any decoding errors and handle them appropriately. 

// Sample JSON data
$jsonData = '{"name": "John", "age": 30}';

// Decode JSON data into an associative array
$data = json_decode($jsonData, true);

// Check for decoding errors
if (json_last_error() !== JSON_ERROR_NONE) {
    // Handle error accordingly
    echo 'Error decoding JSON data: ' . json_last_error_msg();
} else {
    // Access the decoded data
    echo 'Name: ' . $data['name'];
    echo 'Age: ' . $data['age'];
}

Keywords

JSON PHP data handling error handling consistency

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