code: protected function toArray($data, $type, $format)
      {
  
          // load the serializer builde
          $serializer = SerializerBuilder::create()->build();
  
          // deserialize the data, convert it into an array and return it
          return $serializer->toArray($serializer->deserialize($data, $type, $format));
      }
docs: Deserializes the data, converts it into an array and returns it.
  
  @param string $data   The data to convert
  @param string $type   The object type for the deserialization
  @param string $format The data format, either one of JSON, XML or YAML
  
  @return array The data as array