php access json object

<?php
  // JSON string
  $someJSON = '[{"name":"Jonathan Suh","gender":"male"},{"name":"William Philbin","gender":"male"},{"name":"Allison McKinnery","gender":"female"}]';

  // Convert JSON string to Object
  $someObject = json_decode($someJSON);
  echo $someObject[0]->name; // Access Object data
?>

<?php

$data = '{
	"name": "Aragorn",
	"race": "Human"
}';

$character = json_decode($data);
echo $character->name;

<?php
$data = /** whatever you're serializing **/;
header('Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8');
echo json_encode($data);