php - Why use CJSON encode when we have json_encode

I am building an API for a website using Yii. I know that there is a utility class called CJson and has a function called encode.

As far as I know there are additional parameters that can be customized in the native json_encode function like the JSON_NUMERIC_CHECK which is really useful. It creates

{
    "id": 17

}

instead of Yii's CJSON encode which makes the '17' a string.

{
    "id": "17"
}

So my question is whether there is any reason I should use CJSON encode instead of the built in PHP function json_encode ?

Answer

Only thing I can think minimum php version support.

Yii support php 5.1 as minimum version See Yii Installation Page . While json_encode/json_decode introduced in php 5.2. So It can be a reason for Yii having a library for CJson.