Can anybody explain what a return variable is in Coral in simple language and how is it different from any other local variable within a function? From my understanding the return variable returns some value to the main function but I don't know if it is correct

Any examples would be appreciated. Thank you

CodePudding user response：

A return variable in a function is a value that is produced by the function when it is called. The purpose of a return variable is to allow the function to communicate information back to the code that called it. When a function is called, the program execution temporarily jumps into the function to perform the tasks defined within it. When the function is finished executing, it can return a value to the calling code by assigning a value to the return variable. The return value can then be used in the calling code to make decisions or perform other tasks.

The difference between a return variable and a local variable is that a local variable is only accessible within the function in which it is defined, while a return variable is accessible from outside of the function. A local variable is used to store information that is used within the function to perform its tasks, while a return variable is used to communicate information back to the calling code.

For example, consider the following code:

function sum(a, b) {
    let result = a   b;
    return result;
}

let total = sum(3, 4);
console.log(total);

In this code, we have defined a function sum that takes two parameters a and b. The function adds the values of a and b and assigns the result to the local variable result. The function then returns the value of result by assigning it to the return variable. The calling code captures the return value in the variable total and logs it to the console. The output of the code will be 7.