note 85902 added to function.json-decode

Can anyone explain this one? $a = '{ "tag":"<b></b>" }'; echo json_encode( json_decode($a) ); this outputs <b></b> when you would think it would output exactly the input. For some reason it adds an extra slash that it doesnt remove. Bug or not? ---- Server IP: 69.147.83.197 Probable Submitter: 75.62.206.78 ---- Manual Page -- http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.json-decode.php Edit -- https://master.php.net/note/edit/85902 Del: integrated -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/85902/integrated Del: useless -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/85902/useless Del: bad code -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/85902/bad+code Del: spam -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/85902/spam Del: non-english -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/85902/non-english Del: in docs -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/85902/in+docs Del: other reasons-- https://master.php.net/note/delete/85902 Reject -- https://master.php.net/note/reject/85902 Search -- https://master.php.net/manage/user-notes.php