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Java

Thuy Van Ngo
Thuy Van Ngo
3,289 Points
Posted by Thuy Van Ngo
Thuy Van Ngo
3,289 Points

"returns a value" in programming

Could you, please explain more clearly what the term "returns a value" in programming" means? Thank you!

2 Answers

Travis Alstrand
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STAFF
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Travis Alstrand
Treehouse Teacher
Travis Alstrand
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Travis Alstrand
Treehouse Teacher

Hey there Thuy Van Ngo! Thanks for asking!

This was a concept that really gave me trouble when I first started, but with practice came a better understanding for me.

Sometimes in programming we need to be able to get a value that we aren't quite sure of yet, so we can't simply 'hard code' it in right away.

We could create a function that will, for example, do a math equation for us and return the end result to us. Then we can use that returned value for what we needed it for.

I'm not familiar with Java yet, but in the other languages I've learned so far I can declare a variable and set that equal to 'calling that function'. After the function runs and returns this value, that variable we declared will be equal to what that function has returned.

But simply put, it's a way of stating that a function is able to work some logic when it's called and return some kind of value to wherever it was called from. I hope that makes sense!