Building this System, I have got some code from another coder & they have used json_encode() Would you say this is good for storing Data in a MySql Field ? Or should I change it to use more fields ?
It's almost always better to have separate columns in a relational database. The cases where you'd want a JSON column are rare and very specific.
But you shouldn't make changes just based on rules of thumb. If you think it's a bad idea in your specific case, then change it. If you need to query fields within the JSON column, you need to do some tricks to index the fields. In that case JSON is likely a bad choice. But if you need to store some complicated JSON document that you only ever need access in the context of that model, then JSON is probably fine.
To expand on what @jussimannisto said. It’s not an easy yes or no question. If for example you have some metadata that you want to retrieve about a model for example. Storing the data in a key value pair may be completely correct. If you’re going to access the data frequently, put it in a column. If you’re simply going to enrich the model with supplemental data, JSON column is perfectly fine.
