json_encode Or jQuery's getJSON

PHP
1

They both do the same thing, create a JSON object, though one does it on the server end while the other has the browser do all the work.

For returning output, which is better for performance?

I guess this is part of a bigger question, when you have an option of processing output data on the server side or the client side, which is better?

I would imagine for a high traffic website it would be best to push as much of the workload off onto the client side.

2

I think you have misunderstood what the jQuery.getJSON()[/FONT] method actually does, when you make a request to the server the array you return should already be JSON encoded otherwise your creating a redundant request. If this happens you would be much better off just using the [FONT=courier new][URL=“http://api.jquery.com/jQuery.get/”]jQuery.get() method which allows you to set a 3rd argument as either (text, html, json) etc…

With that said i would recommend you always process the array server side all the time as JSON encoding an array barely uses any memory, no matter how small the array is though i will always process the array server side to avoid creating redundant code.

3

Thanks for the clarification, and for the informative response to both my questions.

Unless I’m wrong again, it sounds like these two functions are likely both to be used in a single HTTP request and response.

4

Yes, as your echoing the array back JSON encode it at the same time, see the below example:

$myArray = array('hello', 'there');

exit(json_encode($myArray));