How do I return 'data' as the result of save_it ?

blerg.coffee

# How do I return 'data' as the result of save_it ?

  save_it = (edited_value, s) ->
    $.post(url_to_save_to, {value: edited_value}, (data) -> data)

data doesn't exist until $.post returns, which will be after save_it runs, so there's no way to return data from save_it. You need to instead do whatever you were going to do with data from within the $.post callback. So for instance, instead of

input.val(save_it input.val())

you'd write

save_it input.val()

and

save_it = (edited_value, s) ->
    $.post(url_to_save_to, {value: edited_value}, (data) -> input.val data)

I hope that helps. CoffeeScript doesn't offer any particular structures to handle asynchronicity; "it's just JavaScript," as they say.

By the way, if instead of $.post you were calling something that synchronously runs its callback, then you could write

save_it = (edited_value, s) ->
  data = null
  runNow (d) -> data = d
  data

to return the value provided by runNow from save_it. (The data = null line is necessary to give data scope outside of the callback.)