What are the best practices for handling JSON data in PHP when populating modal fields?

When populating modal fields in PHP with JSON data, it is best practice to decode the JSON string into an associative array using `json_decode()`. This allows you to easily access the data and populate the modal fields with the appropriate values. Make sure to sanitize and validate the JSON data before using it to prevent any security vulnerabilities.

// Assuming $jsonString contains the JSON data
$data = json_decode($jsonString, true);

if($data){
    // Populate modal fields with the JSON data
    echo '<input type="text" value="' . $data['field1'] . '">';
    echo '<input type="text" value="' . $data['field2'] . '">';
    // Add more fields as needed
} else {
    echo 'Invalid JSON data';
}