Question

When a function is executing, what happens when the end of the function's block is reached?

Short answer

Answer: When the end of a function's block is reached during the function execution, the following events occur: 1. The program flow returns to the point where the function was called. 2. The local variables created inside the function are destroyed. 3. If a return value is specified, it is sent back to the calling code.

Step-by-step solution

Understanding Function Blocks

A function block is a section of code enclosed by a pair of opening and closing braces '{' and '}'. It contains a sequence of statements that are executed when the function is called. When the end of the function's block is reached, it means that all the statements inside the function have been executed.

Explaining Program Flow After the Block Ends

When the end of a function's block is reached, the program flow returns to the point in the code where the function was called. This means that the next statement after the function call will be executed. It is important to know that once the function's block ends, the local variables created inside the function will be destroyed and their memory will be freed, making them inaccessible from outside the function.

Discussing Return Values

If the function has a return type other than "void" (in programming languages like C or C++), a return value must be specified using the 'return' statement before the end of the function's block. When the end of the function's block is reached, the return value specified by the 'return' statement will be sent back to the calling code. If no return value is specified and a return value is expected, the behavior is undefined and may lead to errors in the program. Example: ```c int add(int a, int b) { int sum = a + b; return sum; } ``` In this example, the function 'add' takes two integers as input parameters, calculates their sum, and returns it as the output for the function. When the end of the function's block is reached, the value of 'sum' is returned to the calling code.

Quick Recap

To summarize, when the end of a function's block is reached during the function execution: 1. The program flow returns to the point where the function was called. 2. The local variables created inside the function are destroyed. 3. If a return value is specified, it is sent back to the calling code.