How do I store an array in a file to access as an array later with PHP?

Question

I just want to quickly store an array which I get from a remote API, so that i can mess around with it on a local host.

So:

1. I currently have an array.<

Answer 1

If you don't need the dump file to be human-readable, you can just serialize() the array.

storing:

file_put_contents('yourfile.bin', serialize($array));

retrieving:

$array = unserialize(file_get_contents('yourfile.bin'));

Answer 2

Talking about php use, for performance sake, avoid encoding and decoding everything, just save array with:

 file_put_contents('dic.php', "<?php \n".'$dic='.var_export($dic, true).';');

and call normally with

include "dic.php";