PHP Class <-> JSON Serialization/Deserialization with Static & Dynamic Comparison

0.demo.php

<?php

class Car
{
    private $brand;
    private $model;
    private $year;

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

    public function toJson()
    {
        $arr = array(
            'brand' => $this->brand,
            'model' => $this->model,
            'year' => $this->year,
        );

        return json_encode($arr);
    }

    public static function fromJson($json)
    {
        $arr = json_decode($json, true);

        return new self(
            $arr['brand'],
            $arr['model'],
            $arr['year']
        );
    }
}

// original object
echo 'car1: ';
$car1 = new Car('Hyundai', 'Tucson', 2010);
var_dump($car1);

// serialize
echo 'car1class: ';
$car1class = get_class($car1); // need the class name for the dynamic case below. this would need to be bundled with the JSON to know what kind of class to recreate.
var_dump($car1class);

echo 'car1json: ';
$car1Json = $car1->toJson();
var_dump($car1Json);

// static recreation with direct invocation. can only do this if you know the class name in code.
echo 'car2: ';
$car2 = Car::fromJson($car1Json);
var_dump($car2);

// dynamic recreation with reflection. can do this when you only know the class name at runtime as a string.
echo 'car3: ';
$car3 = (new ReflectionMethod($car1class, 'fromJson'))->invoke(null, $car1Json);
var_dump($car3);

1.demo-output.txt

car1: object(Car)#1 (3) {
  ["brand":"Car":private]=>
  string(7) "Hyundai"
  ["model":"Car":private]=>
  string(6) "Tucson"
  ["year":"Car":private]=>
  int(2010)
}
car1class: string(3) "Car"
car1json: string(48) "{"brand":"Hyundai","model":"Tucson","year":2010}"
car2: object(Car)#2 (3) {
  ["brand":"Car":private]=>
  string(7) "Hyundai"
  ["model":"Car":private]=>
  string(6) "Tucson"
  ["year":"Car":private]=>
  int(2010)
}
car3: object(Car)#4 (3) {
  ["brand":"Car":private]=>
  string(7) "Hyundai"
  ["model":"Car":private]=>
  string(6) "Tucson"
  ["year":"Car":private]=>
  int(2010)
}