if so, what does it do?
✓ ANSWER ACCEPTED
does return do anything besides print and break?
3 answers
✓ Accepted answer
Neither
A common misconception is that return is for breaking loops, this is not the case. If your goal is to break a loop use break as that is its intended function.
It should be noted return technically can be used to break a code block, though it still should not be used in that situation as end already serves that exact purpose.
Return is instead used in functions, to take information from a function and allow it to be used wherever the function was called originally.
Return ends the function, causing the script to go back to where the function was called originally. This allows a returned value of one function to be used inside a second function.
Ex.
function divide(num1, num2)
local result = num1 / num2
return result
end
print(divide(1, 2))
When this code is run, it will print 0.5
Credits:
- Benbebop (the whole thing)
- JesseSong (correcting some minor errors)
Return basically turns the function call into the returned object It's hard to explain, so here are some examples
local function returnHelloWorld()
return "Hello World!"
end
local var = returnHelloWorld()
print(var) -- The function returned "Hello World!" to the variable var, so this should output var, which is Hello World!
-- --
local function addTwoNumbers(number1, number2)
local added = number1 + number2
return added
end
print(addTwoNumbers(5, 10)) -- The function returned the variable added, and the variable added is number1 + number2. from the function call, number1 is 5 and number2 is 10, so this should output 5 + 10, which is 15
Return is very useful when calling functions, you can pass information back to the area which called it from so you can do
Local function thing()
Local result = ---some code
Return result
End
If thing() then
--do something if result is true
Else
--do something else
End
I'm on mobile so I can't explain too well atm, read more here
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2 comments
Also, I'd advise you to do some more research!
bomblitz06 and Benbebop gave good answers on this. Returns are also imperative for module scripts.