Question

How do you return a value from a function?

Short answer

Answer: The 'return' statement is used in a function to send a value back to the caller after performing the intended calculations or operations. In a Python function, you can use the 'return' statement followed by the value or variable you want to return. For example, in the below 'add_numbers' function, the 'return' statement is used to send the 'result' variable back to the caller: ```python def add_numbers(a, b): result = a + b return result sum_value = add_numbers(3, 5) print(sum_value) ``` In this example, the 'add_numbers' function takes two input parameters 'a' and 'b', adds them, and returns the result. The 'sum_value' variable then stores the returned value (8 in this case), which is finally printed out.

Step-by-step solution

Define the function and its input parameters

To begin, we need to define a function and its input parameters. In Python, this is done using the 'def' keyword, followed by the function name, and then the input parameters in parentheses. Here's an example of a function called 'add_numbers' that accepts two input parameters 'a' and 'b': ```python def add_numbers(a, b): ```

Perform the necessary calculations

Inside the function, we will perform the necessary calculations or operations using the input parameters. In the 'add_numbers' function, we will add the values of 'a' and 'b': ```python def add_numbers(a, b): result = a + b ```

Return the value using the 'return' statement

Now, to return the value from the function, we will use the 'return' statement followed by the value or variable we want to return. In our example, we will return the 'result' variable: ```python def add_numbers(a, b): result = a + b return result ```

Call the function with parameters and store its result

Finally, to use the function and get the returned value, we will call the function with the appropriate input parameters and store the returned value in a variable. Here's an example of calling the 'add_numbers' function with the values 3 and 5 and storing the result in a variable named 'sum_value': ```python sum_value = add_numbers(3, 5) print(sum_value) ``` This would output '8' as the returned value from the 'add_numbers' function is the sum of the input parameters.