What are some best practices for handling JSON data manipulation in PHP to ensure data integrity?

When handling JSON data manipulation in PHP, it is crucial to ensure data integrity by validating the incoming JSON data before processing it. One way to achieve this is by using PHP's built-in function json_decode() with the second parameter set to true, which will return an associative array instead of an object. This allows for easier data validation and manipulation while maintaining data integrity.

// Example of validating and manipulating JSON data in PHP

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

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

// Check if JSON data was successfully decoded
if ($data) {
    // Manipulate the data as needed
    $data['age'] += 5;

    // Encode the modified data back to JSON
    $updatedJsonData = json_encode($data);

    // Output the updated JSON data
    echo $updatedJsonData;
} else {
    // Handle invalid JSON data
    echo "Invalid JSON data";
}