title: How to store a global value (not necessarily a global variable) in jQuery?
body: <p>Currently I am working on a legacy web page that uses a ton of JavaScript, jQuery, Microsoft client JavaScript, and other libraries. The bottom line - I cannot rewrite the entire page from scratch as the business cannot justify it.  So... it is what it is. Anyway, I need to pollute (I really tried not too) the global namespace with a variable. There are the three options I was thinking about -</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li><p>Just store/retrieve it using a normal JavaScript declaration - <code>var x = 0;</code></p></li>
  <li><p>Use jQuery to store/retrieve the value in a DOM tag - <code>$("body").data("x", 0);</code></p></li>
  <li><p>Use a hidden form field, and set/retrieve the value with jQuery - <code>$("whatever").data("x", 0);</code></p></li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>Is there a better way? I looked at the existing pile of code, and I do not believe the variable can be scoped in a function.</p>