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Convert an object to associative array in PHP

Last Updated : 11 Jul, 2025
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An object is an instance of a class. It is simply a specimen of a class and has memory allocated. The array is the data structure that stores one or more similar types of values in a single name but an associative array is different from a simple PHP array. An array that contains a string index is called an associative array. It stores element values in association with key values rather than in linear index order.

Here we have some common methods

Table of Content

Method 1: Using json_decode and json_encode method

The json_decode function accepts JSON encoded string and converts it into a PHP variable on the other hand json_encode returns a JSON encoded string for a given value.

Syntax: 

$myArray = json_decode(json_encode($object), true);

Example: 

php 
<?php
class sample {
    
    /* Member variables */
    var $var1;
    var $var2;
    
    function __construct( $par1, $par2 ) 
    {
        $this->var1 = $par1;
        $this->var2 = $par2;
    }
}

// Creating the object
$myObj = new sample(1000, "second");
echo "Before conversion: \n";
var_dump($myObj);

// Converting object to associative array
$myArray = json_decode(json_encode($myObj), true);
echo "After conversion: \n";
var_dump($myArray);
?>

Output
Before conversion: 
object(sample)#1 (2) {
  ["var1"]=>
  int(1000)
  ["var2"]=>
  string(6) "second"
}
After conversion: 
array(2) {
  ["var1"]=>
  int(1000)
  ["var2"]=>
  string(6) "second"
}

Method 2: Type Casting object to an array

Typecasting is the way to utilize one data type variable into the different data type and it is simply the explicit conversion of a data type. It can convert a PHP object to an array by using typecasting rules supported in PHP.
Syntax: 
 

$myArray = (array) $myObj;

Example: 

php 
<?php
class bag {
    
    /* Member variables */
    var $item1;
    var $item2;
    var $item3;
    
    function __construct( $par1, $par2, $par3) 
    {
        $this->item1 = $par1;
        $this->item2 = $par2;
        $this->item3 = $par3;
    }
}

// Create myBag object
$myBag = new bag("Mobile", "Charger", "Cable");
echo "Before conversion : \n";
var_dump($myBag);

// Converting object to an array
$myBagArray = (array)$myBag;
echo "After conversion : \n";
var_dump($myBagArray);
?>

Output
Before conversion : 
object(bag)#1 (3) {
  ["item1"]=>
  string(6) "Mobile"
  ["item2"]=>
  string(7) "Charger"
  ["item3"]=>
  string(5) "Cable"
}
After conversion : 
array(3) {
  ["item1"]=>
  string(6) "Mobile"
  ["item2"]=>
  string(7) "Charger"
  ["item3"]=>
  string(5) "Cable"
}

Method 3: Using get_object_vars() Function

The get_object_vars() function returns an associative array containing the properties of the given object.

Syntax:

$myArray = get_object_vars($object);

Example:

PHP 
<?php
class car
{
    /* Member variables */
    var $make;
    var $model;
    var $year;

    function __construct($make, $model, $year)
    {
        $this->make = $make;
        $this->model = $model;
        $this->year = $year;
    }
}

// Create car object
$myCar = new car("Toyota", "Corolla", 2020);
echo "Before conversion: \n";
var_dump($myCar);

// Converting object to an associative array
$myCarArray = get_object_vars($myCar);
echo "After conversion: \n";
var_dump($myCarArray);

?>

Output
Before conversion: 
object(car)#1 (3) {
  ["make"]=>
  string(6) "Toyota"
  ["model"]=>
  string(7) "Corolla"
  ["year"]=>
  int(2020)
}
After conversion: 
array(3) {
  ["make"]=>
  string(6) "Toyota"...

PHP is a server-side scripting language designed specifically for web development. You can learn PHP from the ground up by following this PHP Tutorial and PHP Examples.


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