var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
  xhr.open("GET", url, true);
  xhr.onload = function(e) {
    code = xhr.response;
  };
  xhr.onerror = function () {
    console.error("** An error occurred during the XMLHttpRequest");
  };
  xhr.send();

function doTheThing(code) {
  // I hope the response is ready.
}