jQuery Data Method

jQuery data method gives you the ability to associate arbitrary data with HTML DOM nodes and JavaScript objects.

As of jQuery 1.4.3, you have the ability to use this method on JavaScript objects and call for element modification.

jQuery.data() method store arbitrary data associated with the specified element or returns the value that was set.

Syntax:

$(selector).data(name);
$(selector).data(name,value);

Example using jQuery Data:

$("#myDiv").data("key","value");

You can pass the object as well:

$("#myDiv").data({"name":"John","age":30});

Above example is same as:

$("#myDiv").data("name","John").data("age",30);

Read Also: Select an element with multiple classes in jQuery

You can get the value by calling it in a single parameter:

var name = $("#myDiv").data("name"); // Returns "John"

Internally, jQuery creates an empty object i.e. $.cache, which is used to store the values that you set via the data method.

Get more details from jQuery documentation.