ejson.php

<?php
date_default_timezone_set('UTC');
$foo = '{"bar":{"$date":1358205756553},"pop":{"goes":{"err":{"$binary":"c3VyZS4="},"the":{"weasel":{"$date":1358205756553,"$tz":"America/New_York"}}}}}';

class EJSON {
	
	protected static $customTypes = [];
	
	public static function type($marker, $decoder) {
		if (!is_callable($decoder)) {
			throw new \Exception('Type decoder must be callable');
		}
	}
	
	public static function decode($data) {
		if (is_string($data)) {
			$arr = json_decode($data, true);
		} else {
			$arr = $data;
		}
		foreach ($arr as $key => &$val) {
			if (is_array($val)) {
				if (array_key_exists('$binary', $val)) {
					echo "'{$key}' is binary data\n";
				} else if (array_key_exists('$date', $val)) {
					echo "'{$key}' is a date\n";
					$arr[$key] = new DateTime($val['$date'] / 1000);
				} else {
					$arr[$key] = static::decode($val);
				}
			}
		}
		return $arr;
	}
}

$dat = EJSON::decode($foo);
print_r($dat);

// output
// 'bar' is a date
// 'err' is binary data
// 'weasel' is a date
// Array
// (
//     [bar] => DateTime Object
//         (
//             [date] => 2013-01-14 23:22:36.000000
//             [timezone_type] => 3
//             [timezone] => UTC
//         )
//     [pop] => Array
//         (
//             [goes] => Array
//                 (
//                     [err] => Array
//                         (
//                             [$binary] => c3VyZS4=
//                         )
//                     [the] => Array
//                         (
//                             [weasel] => DateTime Object
//                                 (
//                                     [date] => 2013-01-14 18:22:36.000000
//                                     [timezone_type] => 3
//                                     [timezone] => America/New_York
//                                 )
//                         )
//                 )
//         )
// )

Exactly what I was looking for! Have done some improvment to the class over the years ?