how do i use the return statement?
i keep trying to research it, and i find plenty of websites that explain it-- but all they say is that it “returns the function to the caller”, but i don’t know what that means, or what that does.
can someone please try explaining what, exactly, the return statement does, without just saying it “returns the function to the caller”?
Sorry could you give us the repl link?
The return statement sends the result back to the program. For example:
def one():
return 1+1
number = one()
print(number)
The number 2 will be displayed. This is a very basic example.
oh, there’s no specific repl. just trying to figure out how to use the return statement in general
cool, thanks. that’s a bit more helpful : )
oooh sorry ok so basically for return statements, a function’s purpose is to basically be able to run code without having to rewrite it, so if I wanted to like print “Hello World” two times I could:
def hello_world():
print("Hello World!")
hello_world()
hello_world()
the return function basically allows you to make it give you back something if you call it:
def add_two_num(num1, num2):
return num1 + num2
print(add_two_num(1, 2)) # 3
The cool thing is that you can use it to break a function as well since everything after a return is not executed.
As for the return value, be wary of what language you use … rules vary
This is Python so we already know the language.
The return
statement gives you a value output of a function. A normal function returns nothing at all.
def add(a, b):
print(a + b)
output = add(5, 6)
# prints None
print(output)
But using return
can give you results from a function.
def add(a, b):
return a + b
output = add(5, 6)
# prints 11
print(output)
However calling return
ends the funciton.
def add(a, b):
return a + b
# NEVER gets run
print("hi")
print(add(12, 15))
i missed the tag sorry.
So main thing to watch out is assignment on return. If you return n values, you need n assignments (_ are ok also)
def f(...):
...
return 1, 2, 3
a, b, _ = f(...)
thanks everyone, you’re all being very helpful! i understand it much, much better now