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implementing JSON decoding of deeply nested arrays in PHP 8.1 causing unexpected null values

👀 Views: 99 đŸ’Ŧ Answers: 1 📅 Created: 2025-07-27
php json json_decode php8.1 PHP

Does anyone know how to I'm sure I'm missing something obvious here, but I'm migrating some code and This might be a silly question, but I'm experiencing a question with `json_decode` in PHP 8.1 where deeply nested arrays are returning null instead of the expected values. I'm trying to decode a JSON string that has multiple levels of nesting, but it seems like the values get lost at certain depths. Here's a sample of the JSON I'm working with: ```json { "user": { "id": 1, "profile": { "name": "John", "contact": { "email": "john@example.com", "phone": "1234567890" } } } } ``` When I decode this JSON string: ```php $json = '{"user":{"id":1,"profile":{"name":"John","contact":{"email":"john@example.com","phone":"1234567890"}}}}}'; $data = json_decode($json, true); var_dump($data); ``` I expect to see the full structure in the `$data` array, but instead, the `contact` array is returning null: ``` array(1) { ["user"]=> array(2) { ["id"]=> int(1) ["profile"]=> array(2) { ["name"]=> string(4) "John" ["contact"]=> NULL } } } ``` I've verified that the JSON is valid using various online validators, and I've tried different options with `json_decode`, including the `JSON_BIGINT_AS_STRING` flag, but the scenario continues. Is there a limitation or known bug with `json_decode` related to deeply nested structures in PHP 8.1? Any insights on how to resolve this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! My development environment is Linux. How would you solve this? My development environment is Windows 11. Any examples would be super helpful. I'm developing on Windows 10 with Php. Is this even possible? My team is using Php for this service. Is this even possible?