Convert PHP indexed array into JSON string
["Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday"]

Convert PHP associative array into JSON string
{"name":"Duh","email":"duh@uva.edu","phone":"999-999-9999","age":9}

Convert PHP object into JSON string
{"name":"Someone","email":"someone@uva.edu","phone":"444-444-4444","age":"22"}

Putting both friends in PHP array, then convert into JSON
string(148) "[{"name":"Duh","email":"duh@uva.edu","phone":"999-999-9999","age":9},{"name":"Someone","email":"someone@uva.edu","phone":"444-444-4444","age":"22"}]"
Convert JSON string into PHP object
object(stdClass)#2 (4) { ["name"]=> string(11) "Someoneelse" ["email"]=> string(19) "someoneelse@uva.edu" ["phone"]=> string(12) "555-555-5555" ["age"]=> int(30) }
Converty JSON string into PHP associative array
array(4) { ["name"]=> string(11) "Someoneelse" ["email"]=> string(19) "someoneelse@uva.edu" ["phone"]=> string(12) "555-555-5555" ["age"]=> int(30) }

Retrieve each param-value of JSON
Friend's info --- Someoneelse, someoneelse@uva.edu, 555-555-5555, 30