Question

What is the purpose of the Return statement in a function?

Short answer

Answer: The "Return" statement is used to terminate the current function's execution, with or without returning a specific value. It is typically used to send the result or output back to the caller of the function, allowing the function's output to be used by other parts of the program. This practice also helps create modular and maintainable code by encapsulating specific functionality within a single function, making the code more readable and understandable. The "Return" statement also enforces good programming practices by preventing the usage of global variables to convey output from a function.

Step-by-step solution

Definition of the Return statement

The Return statement is a keyword in many programming languages that serves to terminate the current function's execution, with or without returning a specific value. When a function has completed its task, the "Return" statement is typically used to send the result or output back to the caller of the function.

Benefits of using the Return statement

There are several reasons to use the return statement in a function: 1. It allows the function to produce a result or output that can be used by other parts of the program. 2. It helps create modular and maintainable code by encapsulating specific functionality within a single function. 3. It makes the code more readable and understandable, as the purpose of a function is to perform a specific task and return a result. 4. It enforces good programming practices by preventing the usage of global variables to convey output from a function.

Examples of using the Return statement

Let's see an example in Python: ``` def add_numbers(a, b): result = a + b return result sum_of_numbers = add_numbers(3, 5) print("The sum of 3 and 5 is: ", sum_of_numbers) ``` In this example, we create a function `add_numbers()` that takes two numbers (`a` and `b`) as parameters and adds them together. We assign the sum of the two numbers to a variable `result`. The `return` statement is then used to send the value stored in `result` back to the caller of the function. In this case, the caller is the line `sum_of_numbers = add_numbers(3, 5)`, which stores the result of the function in the variable `sum_of_numbers`.