JSON to PHP Array

A JSON to PHP array converter turns a JSON document into the equivalent PHP array literal you can paste straight into a script. A JSON object becomes an associative array written with the => operator, a JSON array becomes an indexed array, and the scalar types map directly: a JSON string becomes a single-quoted PHP string, true and false stay true and false, null stays null, and numbers keep their value. Instead of hand-typing brackets and arrows around a config blob or an API response, you paste the JSON and copy back ready-to-run PHP.

It exists because JSON and PHP arrays describe the same shape with different punctuation, and translating between them by hand is slow and error-prone. PHP itself reads JSON at runtime with json_decode($string, true), but that leaves the data locked inside a string and parsed on every request. Sometimes you want the array in the source: a default configuration, a lookup table, a fixture for a test, a seed for a database migration, or an example in documentation. This converter produces that literal, so the value is committed to code rather than decoded from a payload each time the script runs.

Everything happens in your browser. The JSON you paste is parsed and re-serialised in JavaScript on your own device, so nothing is uploaded, logged, or stored, and the tool keeps working with the network disconnected once the page has loaded. That matters when the JSON is a real API response, a private config, or anything with keys and values you would rather not send to a server. You can pick the modern short array syntax or the classic array() form for older codebases, set the indentation to match your style, and optionally wrap the output in a variable assignment so it drops into a file with no extra editing.

Here is a JSON object to PHP array conversion you can check. Paste {"site": "O'Reilly Books", "price": 12.50, "tags": ["php", "json"]}, type config in the $variable box and click Convert. With the default short syntax and 4-space indent, the output is $config = [ with 'site' => 'O\'Reilly Books', then 'price' => 12.5, then 'tags' => an indexed array of 'php' and 'json', closed with ];. The apostrophe is escaped with a backslash and 12.50 loses its trailing zero. For JSON to an array in PHP at runtime, json_decode($json, true) gives the same array.