Certified Python Developer Learning Resources The return statement

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The return statement


The return statement is used to return from a function i.e. break out of the function. We can optionally return a value from the function as well.

Example:

#!/usr/bin/python
# Filename: func_return.py
 
def maximum(x, y):
    if x > y:
        return x
    elif x == y:
        return 'The numbers are equal'
    else:
        return y
 
print(maximum(2, 3))

Output:

   $ python func_return.py
   3

How It Works:

The maximum function returns the maximum of the parameters, in this case the numbers supplied to the function. It uses a simple if..else statement to find the greater value and then returns that value.

Note that a return statement without a value is equivalent to return None. None is a special type in Python that represents nothingness. For example, it is used to indicate that a variable has no value if it has a value of None.

Every function implicitly contains a return None statement at the end unless you have written your own return statement. You can see this by running print(someFunction()) where the function someFunction does not use the return statement such as:

def someFunction():
    pass

The pass statement is used in Python to indicate an empty block of statements.

Note - There is a built-in function called max that already implements the 'find maximum' functionality, so use this built-in function whenever possible.
 
-Swaroopch
 
 
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