What are the potential pitfalls of using json_encode and json_decode in PHP for data storage and retrieval?

One potential pitfall of using json_encode and json_decode in PHP for data storage and retrieval is the lack of error handling for invalid JSON data. To solve this issue, you can wrap the json_decode function in a try-catch block to handle any potential errors that may occur during decoding.

// Example of using try-catch block with json_decode
$jsonData = '{"key": "value"}';

try {
    $decodedData = json_decode($jsonData);
    if ($decodedData === null && json_last_error() !== JSON_ERROR_NONE) {
        throw new Exception('Error decoding JSON data');
    }
    // Use $decodedData for further processing
} catch (Exception $e) {
    echo 'Error: ' . $e->getMessage();
}