- var_dump: documentation ( source)
- json_decode: documentation ( source)
<?php
$string = '{"date":"24-03-2014","Cars":["Cheap","Expensive"]}';
$array = json_decode($string, 1);
var_dump($array['date']);//string(10) "24-03-2014"
$string = '{"date":"24-03-2014","Cars":["Cheap","Expensive"]}';
$obj = json_decode($string);
var_dump($obj->date);//string(10) "24-03-2014"