What is the correct format for JSON objects in PHP?

When working with JSON objects in PHP, it's important to ensure that the data is properly encoded and decoded. To create a JSON object in PHP, you can use the `json_encode()` function to convert an array or object into a JSON string. To decode a JSON string back into a PHP object or array, you can use the `json_decode()` function. Make sure to handle any errors that may occur during encoding or decoding.

// Create a PHP array
$data = array(
    'name' => 'John Doe',
    'age' => 30,
    'city' => 'New York'
);

// Encode the array into a JSON object
$jsonObject = json_encode($data);

// Decode the JSON object back into a PHP array
$decodedArray = json_decode($jsonObject, true);

// Check if decoding was successful
if($decodedArray !== null) {
    // Access the data in the decoded array
    echo $decodedArray['name']; // Output: John Doe
} else {
    echo 'Error decoding JSON object';
}