What best practices should be followed when using JSON data to populate a jQuery.datatables table in PHP?

When using JSON data to populate a jQuery.datatables table in PHP, it is important to properly format the JSON response and handle it correctly in the client-side JavaScript code. The JSON data should be retrieved from the server using PHP, encoded properly, and then sent to the client-side script for rendering in the table. It is also important to ensure that the JSON data is in the correct format expected by the jQuery.datatables plugin.

```php
// Sample PHP code to fetch JSON data and send it to the client-side script for rendering in a jQuery.datatables table

// Fetch JSON data from the server
$jsonData = fetchDataFromServer();

// Encode the data in JSON format
$jsonEncodedData = json_encode($jsonData);

// Send the JSON data to the client-side script
echo '<script>var tableData = ' . $jsonEncodedData . ';</script>';
```

In the client-side JavaScript code, you can then use the `tableData` variable to populate the jQuery.datatables table.