Introduction
Loops are one of the most important concepts while learning any new programming language, and the same is followed in ruby. We know the syntax and use of loops quickly, but the main crunch comes in handling the flow of control of the iteration because that helps get our desired results.
Although there are many statements apart from the return keyword in ruby, like a break, retry, redo, next, and throw/catch, which alter or control the flow of control but in this article, we will be discussing only the return keyword in ruby.
We will be discussing its utility along with how to use the return keyword in ruby and will see a real code with the return keyword in ruby.
Let us start the article.
The Return Keyword in Ruby
The name of the statement already suggests many things about the use of this keyword.
With or without a value, this is used to quit a method. It always gives its caller a value back. The return statement has a wide range of alternatives. The return value of a method is always returned as null if no expression is provided with the return statement. If we require to return a list of expressions, following the return statement, the list of expressions is always separated by a comma (,). In this scenario, an array containing the values of the supplied expressions will be the method's return value.
It may happen that you could not understand the use of return statements by reading only the theory part. To avoid misunderstanding, We will show you how to use a return statement in the following code.
Code
# A program to use the return keyword in ruby
# Defining a method 'codnigninjas.'
def codingninjas
# Defining the variables of the method
var1 = 61
var2 = 55
# Returning multiple values with the help of a return keyword in ruby.
return var1, var2
# This statement will not execute as the return statement is executed
puts "Hello Ninjas."
# Ending the method
end
# Defining the variable outside the method to
# Store the return value of the method
value = codingninjas
# Displaying the result
puts value
Let us see the output for this.
Output
61
55
Let us now see the explanation for the code which used the return keyword in ruby
Explanation
At first, we have defined a method named codingninjas, and subsequently, we have initialized the variables into it. The return keyword in the method codingninjas in the aforementioned example returns var1 and var2 to the user. Value is the variable in this context that holds the returning values. The key point is that the line that ends with "Hello ninjas" does not execute because statements after a return statement inside of a method do not execute.
That was the end of the blog. I hope it was interesting for you to learn more about the return statement in ruby. Though the return statement is used in almost every programming language with almost the same usage and syntax, that is why it is easier to understand in ruby if you are a kind of experienced with any other programming language.
As the return statement is used to shift the control of the flow of the program or the code, it is an inseparable part of the code without using this. We cannot have any output from the functions or the methods called.
Let us now move to the next section, where we will be answering the frequently asked questions regarding the return statement to alter the flow of control in ruby.
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