Zend_Json provides convenience methods for serializing native PHP to JSON and decoding JSON to native PHP. For more information on JSON, » visit the JSON project site.

JSON, JavaScript Object Notation, can be used for data interchange between JavaScript and other languages. Since JSON can be directly evaluated by JavaScript, it is a more efficient and lightweight format than XML for exchanging data with JavaScript clients.

In addition, Zend_Json provides a useful way to convert any arbitrary XML formatted string into a JSON formatted string. This built-in feature will enable PHP developers to transform the enterprise data encoded in XML format into JSON format before sending it to browser-based Ajax client applications. It provides an easy way to do dynamic data conversion on the server-side code thereby avoiding unnecessary XML parsing in the browser-side applications. It offers a nice utility function that results in easier application-specific data processing techniques.