What is the recommended PHP function for decoding JSON data?

To decode JSON data in PHP, the recommended function is `json_decode()`. This function takes a JSON string as input and converts it into a PHP variable (array or object) that can be easily manipulated within the PHP code. Example PHP code snippet:

$json_data = '{"name": "John", "age": 30, "city": "New York"}';
$decoded_data = json_decode($json_data);

// Accessing the decoded data
echo $decoded_data->name; // Output: John
echo $decoded_data->age; // Output: 30
echo $decoded_data->city; // Output: New York