Processing JSON data

JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) provides web developers with a clean and efficient way to encode data. JSON is a widely adopted format. It simplifies data processing and manipulation. To read more about why you should use JSON, visit http://www.revillweb.com/why-use-json/.

Getting ready

Ensure that your web server is running and you have access to the web root where you can save/upload the files that you will create as part of this recipe.

How to do it…

Learn how to use JSON-formatted data with JavaScript by performing the following steps:

1. Create a PHP file named request-3.php and save it to the web root of your web server. Use the following PHP code to create and output a list of names as JSON data:

   <?php
     //Create an array of people
     $people = array(
       1 => array(
         "firstname" => "Luke",
         "lastname" => "Skywalker"
       ),
       2 => array(
         "firstname" => "Darth",
         "lastname" => "Vader"
       ),
       3 => array(
         "firstname...