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 7.7. Using the literal statement
#!/usr/bin/python # Filename: func_return.py def maximum(x, y): if x > y: return x else: return y print maximum(2, 3)
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.