// a complex array
$myvar = array(
 'hello',
 42,
 array(1,'two'),
 'apple'
);

// convert to a string
$string = serialize($myvar);

echo $string;
/* prints
a:4:{i:0;s:5:"hello";i:1;i:42;i:2;a:2:{i:0;i:1;i:1;s:3:"two";}i:3;s:5:"apple";}
*/

// you can reproduce the original variable
$newvar = unserialize($string);

print_r($newvar);
/* prints
Array
(
  [0] => hello
  [1] => 42
  [2] => Array
    (
      [0] => 1
      [1] => two
    )

  [3] => apple
)
*/

// a complex array
$myvar = array(
 'hello',
 42,
 array(1,'two'),
 'apple'
);

// convert to a string
$string = json_encode($myvar);

echo $string;
/* prints
["hello",42,[1,"two"],"apple"]
*/

// you can reproduce the original variable
$newvar = json_decode($string);

print_r($newvar);
/* prints
Array
(
  [0] => hello
  [1] => 42
  [2] => Array
    (
      [0] => 1
      [1] => two
    )

  [3] => apple
)
*/