Return
Synopsis
Return a value as result of a [Function].
Syntax
return;
return Exp;
Description
A return statement comes in four variants: without and with an expression,
both variants end the execution of the current function.
The first variant applies to functions with void as return type.
The second variants applies to non-void functions and returns the value of Exp as result of the function invocation.
The following rules apply:
The static type of Exp should be compatible with the declared return type of the function in which the return statement occurs.
In each function with a return type that is not void, every possible execution path through the body of the function should end in a return statement.
In each function with a return type that is void, a return statement is implicitly assumed at the end of each execution path through the function body.
Examples
rascal>int twice(int n) {
>>>>>>> return 2 * n;
>>>>>>>}
int (int): function(|prompt:///|(0,38,<1,0>,<3,1>))
rascal>twice(5);
int: 10
Functions that only return a value can be abbreviated (and the return is implicit):
rascal>int twiceb(int n) = 2 * n;
int (int): function(|prompt:///|(0,26,<1,0>,<1,26>))
rascal>twiceb(5);
int: 10
Sometimes we return the result of a for loop or a visit:
rascal>list[int] even1(int n) {
>>>>>>> return for (i <- [0..n + 1], i % 2 == 0) {
>>>>>>> append i;
>>>>>>> };
>>>>>>>}
list[int] (int): function(|prompt:///|(0,90,<1,0>,<5,1>))
rascal>even1(10)
list[int]: [0,2,4,6,8,10]
although that could be written easier using a comprehension
rascal>list[int] even2(int n) = [i | i <- [0..n+1], i %2 == 0];
list[int] (int): function(|prompt:///|(0,56,<1,0>,<1,56>))
rascal>even2(10);
list[int]: [0,2,4,6,8,10]