What are the common pitfalls when using json_decode in PHP to handle REST API responses?

One common pitfall when using json_decode in PHP to handle REST API responses is not checking for errors or invalid JSON data, which can lead to unexpected behavior or errors in your application. To solve this, you should always check the return value of json_decode and handle any errors or exceptions that may occur.

// Example code snippet to handle errors when using json_decode
$jsonResponse = '{"key": "value"}'; // Sample JSON response from the API

$data = json_decode($jsonResponse);

if ($data === null && json_last_error() !== JSON_ERROR_NONE) {
    // Handle JSON decoding error
    throw new Exception('Error decoding JSON: ' . json_last_error_msg());
}

// Use the decoded data
var_dump($data);