Preferred method to store PHP arrays (json_encode vs serialize)

Question

I need to store a multi-dimensional associative array of data in a flat file for caching purposes. I might occasionally come across the need to convert it to JSON for use in

Answer 1

THX - for this benchmark code:

My results on array I use for configuration are as fallows: JSON encoded in 0.0031511783599854 seconds
PHP serialized in 0.0037961006164551 seconds
json_encode() was roughly 20.47% faster than serialize() JSON encoded in 0.0070841312408447 seconds
PHP serialized in 0.0035839080810547 seconds
unserialize() was roughly 97.66% faster than json_encode()

So - test it on your own data.