$re = '/(?&object) # Find the object
####################
(?(DEFINE)
(?<name>
" \s* [^\s"]+ \s* "
)
(?<value>
(?>
(?:
(?&string)
| (?&number)
| (?&object)
| (?&array)
| (?&T_F_N)
)
)
)
(?<string>
"
[^"]*
"
)
(?<number>
\d+
)
(?<array>
\[
(?:
\s* (?&value)
(?>
(?:
\s* , \s*
(?&value)
)*
)
)?
\s* \]
)
(?<T_F_N>
true
| false
| null
)
(?<object>
{
(?:
\s* (?&name) \s* : \s* (?&value)
(?:
\s* , \s* (?&name) \s* :
\s* (?&value)
)*
\s*
)
}
)
)
/x';
$str = '{
"firstName": "Duke",
"lastName": "Java",
"age": 18,
"streetAddress": "100 Internet Dr",
"city": "JavaTown",
"state": "JA",
"postalCode": "12345",
"phoneNumbers": [
{ "Mobile": "111-111-1111" },
{ "Home": "222-222-2222" }
]
}';
preg_match_all($re, $str, $matches, PREG_SET_ORDER, 0);
// Print the entire match result
var_dump($matches);
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php