What is the significance of using json_encode() and json_decode() when working with cookies in PHP?

When working with cookies in PHP, it is important to encode and decode data using json_encode() and json_decode() functions. This is necessary because cookies can only store strings, so if you want to store an array or object in a cookie, you need to serialize it into a string using json_encode(). When retrieving the cookie data, you need to decode it back into its original format using json_decode(). 

// Encoding data before storing it in a cookie
$data = ['name' => 'John', 'age' => 30];
$encodedData = json_encode($data);
setcookie('user', $encodedData, time() + 3600);

// Decoding data after retrieving it from a cookie
if(isset($_COOKIE['user'])){
    $decodedData = json_decode($_COOKIE['user'], true);
    echo $decodedData['name']; // Output: John
}

Keywords

json_encode json_decode cookies PHP data serialization

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