How can I use the PHP data returned to a jquery $.post() function?

Question

If I need data on the fly from a script, I usually do a jQuery $.post() method and then on the backend, my PHP script echo's the info I need.

This sounds like a stupid question, but is there a way to actually just get something returned and then use that data in javascript?

My example is

$.post('script.php', vars,
            function(data) {  
                console.log(data); 
            });

So i can console.log the data and this is what I get

But how can I actually use that data? Is there something I'm missing? I want to be able to go

return $data;

in PHP, and then use that data in javascript. Please tell me if this is a stupid question and I'm going down the wrong path.

Answer 1

For one, you can turn that data into a json object, and use it in your js

your php:

exit(json_encode($data));

your jquery

$.post('script.php', vars,
            function(data) {  
                console.log(data); 
            }, 'json');

If you look at your console, data is now a javascript object

Answer 2

from php

echo json_encode($data);

from jquery

$.post('script.php', vars,
            function(data) {  

var new_data = $.parseJSON(data);

                console.log(new_data); 
            });