Here’s a comparison with examples:
1. Syntax & Ease of Use
JSON (Easier & Lighter)
- Simpler syntax
- Easily converted to PHP associative arrays/objects
phpCopyEdit$json = '{"name":"Aditya","email":"adityaypi@yahoo.com"}';
$data = json_decode($json, true); // true for associative array
echo $data['name']; // Output: Aditya
XML (More Verbose & Complex)
- More complex structure
- Needs special parsers
$xml = '<user><name>Aditya</name><email>adityaypi@yahoo.com</email></user>';
$data = simplexml_load_string($xml);
echo $data->name; // Output: Aditya
2. Performance
- JSON is faster to parse than XML.
- XML includes metadata (tags), which increases size and parsing time.
| Metric | JSON | XML |
|---|
| Speed | ✅ Faster | ❌ Slower |
| Size | ✅ Smaller | ❌ Larger |
| Overhead | ✅ Low | ❌ High |
3. Built-in Functions in PHP
| Task | JSON | XML |
|---|
| Parse from string | json_decode($string) | simplexml_load_string($string) |
| Encode to string | json_encode($array) | simplexml_load_string() + export |
| Convert to array | json_decode($json, true) | json_decode(json_encode($xml), true) |
4. When to Use What?
| Use Case | Prefer |
|---|
| Lightweight API/data storage | ✅ JSON |
| Complex data with attributes | ✅ XML |
| Working with REST APIs | ✅ JSON |
| Dealing with legacy systems (SOAP) | ✅ XML |
| Faster development | ✅ JSON |
Conversion Between JSON & XML
XML JSON:
phpCopyEdit$xml = simplexml_load_string($xml_string);
$json = json_encode($xml);
$array = json_decode($json, true);
JSON XML: (manual, or use a helper class)
Summary
| Feature | JSON | XML |
|---|
| Simplicity | ✅ Yes | ❌ Verbose |
| Parsing speed | ✅ Fast | ❌ Slower |
| PHP support | ✅ Better | ✅ Good |
| Attributes support | ❌ Limited | ✅ Full |
| Human readable | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Best for modern APIs | ✅ JSON | ❌ XML |
