Example of localization using json

json_localization.php

<?php

// the original of this code can be found on: 
// http://www.mind-it.info/2010/02/22/a-simple-approach-to-localization-in-php/
function localize($phrase) {
  /* Static keyword is used to ensure the file is loaded only once */
  static $translations = NULL;
  if (is_null($translations)) {
    $lang_file = '/lang/' . $_SESSION["locale"] . '.txt';
    /* If no instance of $translations has occured load the language file */
    if (!file_exists($lang_file)) {
      $lang_file = '/lang/' . 'en.txt';
    }
    $lang_file_content = file_get_contents($lang_file);
    /* Load the language file as a JSON object 
       and transform it into an associative array */
    $translations = json_decode($lang_file_content, true);
  }
  return $translations[$phrase];
}

?>