Where exactly does a python function's return value go?

Question

My Rock Paper Scissors code doesn't work and I'm assuming it's because I'm using the return value incorrectly. What should I do?

EDIT, so I've stored the return like this

def results (x, y):
if (x == "R" or x == "rock" or x == "r" or x == "Rock" or x == "ROCK") and (y == "S" or y ==  "s" or y == "Scissors" or y == "SCISSORS" or y == "scissors"):
    winner = 1
    return winner

But how do I get "winner" to print outside of the function?

OLD

player1 = input ("Player 1: Please enter either Rock, Paper or Scissors:")

player2 = input ("Player 2: Please enter either Rock, Paper or Scissors:") 

def results (x, y):
 if (x == "R" or x == "rock" or x == "r" or x == "Rock" or x == "ROCK") and (y == "S" or y ==  "s" or y == "Scissors" or y == "SCISSORS" or y == "scissors"):

    return 1
 else:
    if (x == "rock" or x == "r" or x =="R" or x == "Rock" or x == "ROCK") and (y == "P" or y == "p" or y == "paper" or y == "Paper" or y == "PAPER"):

        return 2
    else:
        if (x == "rock" or x =="R" or x == "r" or x == "Rock" or x == "ROCK") and (y == "rock" or y =="R" or y == "r" or y =="Rock" or y == "ROCK"):

            return 0
        else: 
            print ("Sorry, I didn't understand your input") 


results (player1, player2)

if results == 1:
    print ("Player 1 wins!")
else:
    if results == 2:
        print("Player 2 wins!")
    else:
        if results == 0:
            print("It was a tie!")

You might benefit from reviewing a tutorial on Python functions - in particular how to call them. This is the official one, there are others out there: docs.python.org/2/tutorial/controlflow.html#defining-functions — Peter DeGlopper
– Peter DeGlopper, Commented Feb 3, 2014 at 1:31
Also please don't extend if statements that much. Try something like rock_list = ["rock","R","r"] and if x in rock_list: this looks better but it's only style thing so still your choice to use it or not. — Lafexlos
– Lafexlos, Commented Feb 3, 2014 at 2:06

user2357112 · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-03 01:50:19Z

5

The return value isn't automatically stored anywhere. You need to store it manually:

result = results(player1, player2)

if result == 1:
    ...

If you look up at the top of your code, you'll see you already did the right thing with the input function:

player1 = input ("Player 1: Please enter either Rock, Paper or Scissors:")

Functions you define yourself should be handled the same way.

In response to the edit: Creating a local variable inside results won't help. The code that calls the function needs to store the return value. (People have designed languages that work the way you're trying to get it to work. The result is a huge headache with unrelated parts of the program stomping over each other's data.)

edited Feb 3, 2014 at 1:50

answered Feb 3, 2014 at 1:31

user2357112

286k32 gold badges490 silver badges570 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

3 Comments

plooms Over a year ago

How do I get the local return variable to be universal?

user2357112 Over a year ago

@Keith: See expanded answer.

plooms Over a year ago

Thanks I got it winner = results (player1, player2)

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Where exactly does a python function's return value go?

1 Answer 1

3 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

3 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related