Convert JSON to HTML via Javascript and JQuery

JSONtoHTML.js

//FROM: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8324239/generating-html-from-arbitrarily-complex-json-object-in-javascript
jQuery(function($) {

  display("Loading the JSON data");
  $.ajax({
    type:     "GET",
    url:      "/path/to/the/data",
    dataType: "JSON",
    success:  function(data) {
      display("Got the data, rendering it.");
      $(document.body).append(renderContents(data.contents));
    },
    error:    function() {
      display("An error occurred.");
    }
  });

  function renderContentsAsList(contents) {
        if (contents && contents.length) {
            var index, ul;
 
            // Create a list for these contents
            ul = $("<ul>");
 
            // Fill it in
            $.each(contents, function(index, entry) {
                var li;
 
                // Create list item
                li = $("<li>");
 
                // Set the text
                li.text(entry.filename);
 
                // Append a sublist of its contents if it has them
                if (entry.content) {
                    li.append(renderContents(entry.content));
                }
 
                // Add this item to our list
                ul.append(li);
            });
 
            // Return it
            return ul;
        }
    }

  function display(msg) {
    $("<p>").html(msg).appendTo(document.body);
  }
});