Store data from local file to variable when the page is ready

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Javascript

jQuery

JSON

var persons;
        $(function () {
            $.getJSON("person.json", function(data){ persons = JSON.stringify(data); 
                console.log("This is inside: "+ persons); });
                console.log("This is outside" + persons);
            }
            getJSONData();
        });

i want to get and store data from local file(person.json) into a variable at the beginning. But the result is:

This is outside: undefined
This is inside: [{"name":"user1","gender":"male"},{"name":"user2"},{"gender":"female"}]

So how can i get and store data into variable at the very beginning?

What I have tried:

var persons;
    function getJSONData() {
        $.getJSON("person.json", function(data){ persons = JSON.stringify(data); 
        console.log("This is inside: "+ persons); });
    }
    getJSONData();
    $(function () {
        console.log("This is outside: " + persons);
    });

I have tried this, but the result is same...