JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data interchange format that is commonly used to exchange data between a server and a web application, or between different systems. In PHP, you can easily work with JSON data using built-in functions. Here's how you can encode and decode JSON in PHP:

Encoding (Converting PHP Data to JSON):

php
<?php
$data = array(
    'name' => 'John',
    'age' => 30,
    'city' => 'New York'
);

// Convert PHP array to JSON format
$json_data = json_encode($data);

echo $json_data;
?>

In this example, the `json_encode()` function is used to convert a PHP associative array into a JSON-formatted string. The resulting JSON string can be sent to a client or saved to a file.

Decoding (Converting JSON to PHP Data):

php
<?php
$json_data = '{
    "name":"John","age":30,"city":"New York"
}';

// Convert JSON string to PHP array
$data = json_decode($json_data, true);

print_r($data);
?>

Here, the `json_decode()` function is used to convert a JSON string into a PHP associative array. The second argument `true` indicates that you want to decode the JSON as an associative array. If you omit the second argument, `json_decode()` will return an object instead.

It's important to note that while decoding JSON, you should handle potential errors that might occur due to invalid JSON data.

Working with JSON Files:

You can also read and write JSON data to/from files using PHP:

php
<?php
// Read JSON data from a file
$json_data = file_get_contents('data.json');

$data = json_decode($json_data, true);

print_r($data);

// Modify data
$data['age'] = 31;

// Convert modified data back to JSON
$modified_json = json_encode($data);

// Write modified JSON back to the file
file_put_contents('data.json', $modified_json);
?>

In this example, `file_get_contents()` is used to read JSON data from a file, and `file_put_contents()` is used to write modified JSON data back to the file.

Remember to handle errors and validate JSON data properly in real-world scenarios to ensure the reliability and security of your code.

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