Lesson 7: Specifying the Result of a Function

Functions can perform actions. One thing a function can do is to give you back a value when you call it. This value is the result.

Functions can perform actions. One thing a function can do is to give you back a value when you call it. This value is the result.

For example, when you call GetRandomInt(1, 10), you expect to get a random integer between 1 and 10.

To change the type of value that you want from your function, you would change the type in the function signature. For example:

GetNumberOfMousetrapsYouCanAfford() : int
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In this example, GetNumberOfMousetrapsYouCanAfford() has the return type int, so whenever you call GetNumberOfMousetrapsYouCanAfford() in your code, you can expect it to return an integer.

GetNumberOfMousetrapsYouCanAfford() : float
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On the other hand, if you changed the type to float, it would return a different kind of value.

When your function has a return type specified, the function body (code block) has to produce a result that matches that type. If it doesn’t, the code won't compile — which means you have a compiler error. Ready to learn how to avoid this?