[php] Cannot use object of type stdClass as array?

As the Php Manual say,

print_r — Prints human-readable information about a variable

When we use json_decode();, we get an object of type stdClass as return type. The arguments, which are to be passed inside of print_r() should either be an array or a string. Hence, we cannot pass an object inside of print_r(). I found 2 ways to deal with this.

  1. Cast the object to array.
    This can be achieved as follows.

    $a = (array)$object;
    
  2. By accessing the key of the Object
    As mentioned earlier, when you use json_decode(); function, it returns an Object of stdClass. you can access the elements of the object with the help of -> Operator.

    $value = $object->key;
    

One, can also use multiple keys to extract the sub elements incase if the object has nested arrays.

$value = $object->key1->key2->key3...;

Their are other options to print_r() as well, like var_dump(); and var_export();

P.S : Also, If you set the second parameter of the json_decode(); to true, it will automatically convert the object to an array();
Here are some references:
http://php.net/manual/en/function.print-r.php
http://php.net/manual/en/function.var-dump.php
http://php.net/manual/en/function.var-export.php