Code review at scale is broken. Here’s how Augment Code is fixing it.

PHP JSON Parser - Read large JSON from any source in a memory-efficient way

Published on by

PHP JSON Parser - Read large JSON from any source in a memory-efficient way image

JSON Parser is a zero-dependencies pull parser to read large JSON from any source in a memory-efficient way. You can read JSON from any source, such as a string, URL, etc., and iterate through it like so:

// a source is anything that can provide a JSON, in this case an endpoint
$source = 'https://randomuser.me/api/1.4?seed=json-parser&results=5';
 
foreach (new JsonParser($source) as $key => $value) {
// instead of loading the whole JSON, we keep in memory only one key and value at a time
}

If you don't want to use foreach this parser also comes with a traverse method that looks like the following:

JsonParser::parse($source)->traverse(function (mixed $value, string|int $key, JsonParser $parser) {
// lazily load one key and value at a time; we can also access the parser if needed
});

The above examples demonstrate using a URL to process JSON, but the package supports several data sources. At the time of writing, the readme lists the following sources:

  • strings, e.g. {"foo":"bar"}
  • iterables, i.e. arrays or instances of Traversable
  • file paths, e.g. /path/to/large.json
  • resources, e.g. streams
  • API endpoint URLs, e.g. https://endpoint.json or any instance of Psr\Http\Message\UriInterface
  • PSR-7 requests, i.e. any instance of Psr\Http\Message\RequestInterface
  • PSR-7 messages, i.e. any instance of Psr\Http\Message\MessageInterface
  • PSR-7 streams, i.e. any instance of Psr\Http\Message\StreamInterface
  • Laravel HTTP client requests, i.e. any instance of Illuminate\Http\Client\Request
  • Laravel HTTP client responses, i.e. any instance of Illuminate\Http\Client\Response
  • user-defined sources, i.e. any instance of Cerbero\JsonParser\Sources\Source

Another amazing feature of this library that I want to point out is pointers which are useful to extract only specific subtrees from a large JSON dataset:

// Select the first gender result
$json = JsonParser::parse($source)->pointer('/results/0/gender');
 
foreach ($json as $key => $value) {
// 1st and only iteration: $key === 'gender', $value === 'female'
}
 
// Get all gender results
$json = JsonParser::parse($source)->pointer('/results/-/gender');
// ...

This package has many other features I still need to mention that you should check out! For example, it has a progress API to track the parsing progress (i.e., completion percentage, bytes processed, etc). Check out this package, get full installation instructions, and view the source code on GitHub!

Paul Redmond photo

Staff writer at Laravel News. Full stack web developer and author.

Cube

Laravel Newsletter

Join 40k+ other developers and never miss out on new tips, tutorials, and more.

image
Jump24 - UK Laravel Agency

Laravel Developers that Click into Place. Never outsourced. Never offshored. Always exceptional.

Visit Jump24 - UK Laravel Agency
Bacancy logo

Bacancy

Supercharge your project with a seasoned Laravel developer with 4-6 years of experience for just $3200/month. Get 160 hours of dedicated expertise & a risk-free 15-day trial. Schedule a call now!

Bacancy
Tinkerwell logo

Tinkerwell

The must-have code runner for Laravel developers. Tinker with AI, autocompletion and instant feedback on local and production environments.

Tinkerwell
Get expert guidance in a few days with a Laravel code review logo

Get expert guidance in a few days with a Laravel code review

Expert code review! Get clear, practical feedback from two Laravel devs with 10+ years of experience helping teams build better apps.

Get expert guidance in a few days with a Laravel code review
PhpStorm logo

PhpStorm

The go-to PHP IDE with extensive out-of-the-box support for Laravel and its ecosystem.

PhpStorm
Laravel Cloud logo

Laravel Cloud

Easily create and manage your servers and deploy your Laravel applications in seconds.

Laravel Cloud
Acquaint Softtech logo

Acquaint Softtech

Acquaint Softtech offers AI-ready Laravel developers who onboard in 48 hours at $3000/Month with no lengthy sales process and a 100 percent money-back guarantee.

Acquaint Softtech
Kirschbaum logo

Kirschbaum

Providing innovation and stability to ensure your web application succeeds.

Kirschbaum
Shift logo

Shift

Running an old Laravel version? Instant, automated Laravel upgrades and code modernization to keep your applications fresh.

Shift
Harpoon: Next generation time tracking and invoicing logo

Harpoon: Next generation time tracking and invoicing

The next generation time-tracking and billing software that helps your agency plan and forecast a profitable future.

Harpoon: Next generation time tracking and invoicing
Lucky Media logo

Lucky Media

Get Lucky Now - the ideal choice for Laravel Development, with over a decade of experience!

Lucky Media
SaaSykit: Laravel SaaS Starter Kit logo

SaaSykit: Laravel SaaS Starter Kit

SaaSykit is a Multi-tenant Laravel SaaS Starter Kit that comes with all features required to run a modern SaaS. Payments, Beautiful Checkout, Admin Panel, User dashboard, Auth, Ready Components, Stats, Blog, Docs and more.

SaaSykit: Laravel SaaS Starter Kit

The latest

View all →
The Inertia v3 Beta is Here image

The Inertia v3 Beta is Here

Read article
Polyscope Is an Ai-First Dev Environment for Orchestrating Agents image

Polyscope Is an Ai-First Dev Environment for Orchestrating Agents

Read article
Filament v5.3.0 Released with Deferred Tab Badges and Column Manager Improvements image

Filament v5.3.0 Released with Deferred Tab Badges and Column Manager Improvements

Read article
Ward: A Security Scanner for Laravel image

Ward: A Security Scanner for Laravel

Read article
Kit: An Opinionated API Starter Kit for Laravel image

Kit: An Opinionated API Starter Kit for Laravel

Read article
Livewire v4.2.0 Released with Security Hardening and Laravel 13 Support image

Livewire v4.2.0 Released with Security Hardening and Laravel 13 Support

Read article