So ive learned some basic python programming and was learning some Java through some books. I was trying out some pretty basic coding examples on eclispe and i had a question about the return statement
in Python a return statement in a function for example would output something to the screen for instance in python if a function was : def test(x): return x and i tested with test(4) integer 4 would output to the screen. Does return work the same way in java?
In Python the return statement does not print anything to the screen. What's happening is that you're running Python in a REPL (an interactive mode), so the values returned by the functions get automatically displayed on-screen.
However, if you run Python from a command line (say, by executing a script) the values returned by functions will not be displayed on-screen ... unless you explicitly print them. Same is true for java:
System.out.println(x); // this is how you print in Java
print(x) // this is how you print in Python
AFAIK all the programming languages that have a return keyword (or equivalent) don't print anything on-screen, return is useful only for, well, returning a value from a function or method. A separate instruction is required for displaying results.
In Java the return function passes an object or primitive back to the calling method (the code that originally called your function). The calling method may do whatever it likes (including print) the returned value.
public static int myMethod() {
return 5;
}
public static void main (String[] args) {
int a = myMethod();
System.out.println(a); //prints 5
}
test(4)evaluates to 4 (since 4 is returned), and that's why 4 is printed. Return works the same in Python and Java.