Python return statement

Difficulty Level : Medium
Last Updated : 21 Nov, 2019

A return statement is used to end the execution of the function call and “returns” the result (value of the expression following the return keyword) to the caller. The statements after the return statements are not executed. If the return statement is without any expression, then the special value None is returned.

Note: Return statement can not be used outside the function.

Syntax:

def fun():
    statements
    .
    .
    return [expression]

Example:

# Python program to  
# demonstrate return statement  
  
def add(a, b): 
  
    # returning sum of a and b 
    return a + b 
  
def is_true(a): 
  
    # returning boolean of a 
    return bool(a) 
  
# calling function 
res = add(2, 3) 
print("Result of add function is {}".format(res)) 
  
res = is_true(2<5) 
print("\nResult of is_true function is {}".format(res)) 

Output:

Result of add function is 5

Result of is_true function is True

Returning Multiple Values

In Python, we can return multiple values from a function. Following are different ways.

Using Object: This is similar to C/C++ and Java, we can create a class (in C, struct) to hold multiple values and return an object of the class.

# A Python program to return multiple   
# values from a method using class  
class Test:  
    def __init__(self):  
        self.str = "geeksforgeeks"
        self.x = 20   
    
# This function returns an object of Test  
def fun():  
    return Test()  
        
# Driver code to test above method  
t = fun()   
print(t.str)  
print(t.x) 

Output:

geeksforgeeks
20

Using Tuple: A Tuple is a comma separated sequence of items. It is created with or without (). Tuples are immutable. See this for details of tuple.

# A Python program to return multiple   
# values from a method using tuple  
    
# This function returns a tuple  
def fun():  
    str = "geeksforgeeks"
    x = 20
    return str, x;  # Return tuple, we could also  
                    # write (str, x)  
    
# Driver code to test above method  
str, x = fun() # Assign returned tuple  
print(str)  
print(x)  

Output:

geeksforgeeks
20

Using a list: A list is like an array of items created using square brackets. They are different from arrays as they can contain items of different types. Lists are different from tuples as they are mutable. See this for details of list.

# A Python program to return multiple   
# values from a method using list  
    
# This function returns a list  
def fun():  
    str = "geeksforgeeks"
    x = 20   
    return [str, x];    
    
# Driver code to test above method  
list = fun()   
print(list)  

Output:

['geeksforgeeks', 20]

Using a Dictionary: A Dictionary is similar to hash or map in other languages. See this for details of dictionary.

# A Python program to return multiple   
# values from a method using dictionary  
    
# This function returns a dictionary  
def fun():  
    d = dict();   
    d['str'] = "GeeksforGeeks"
    d['x']   = 20
    return d  
    
# Driver code to test above method  
d = fun()   
print(d)  

Output:

{'x': 20, 'str': 'GeeksforGeeks'}

Function returning another function

In Python, functions are objects so, we can return a function from another function. This is possible because funcitons are treated as first class objects in Python. To know more about first class objects click here.
In the below example, the create_adder function returns adder function.

# Python program to illustrate functions  
# can return another function  
  
def create_adder(x):  
    def adder(y):  
        return x + y  
  
    return adder  
  
add_15 = create_adder(15)  
  
print("The result is", add_15(10))  
  
# Returning different function 
def outer(x): 
    return x * 10
  
def my_func(): 
      
    # returning different function 
    return outer 
  
# storing the function in res 
res = my_func() 
  
print("\nThe result is:", res(10)) 