what is 'return' exactly?
how it works exactly?

Question

import random
class Thief:
    sneaky = True
def pickpocket(self):
    if self.sneaky: # it binds the attributes with the given arguments.
        return bool(random.randint(0, 1 )) # to execute this statement, we should import 'random'
    return False

def hide(self, light_level):
    if self.sneaky and light_level < 10:
           return True
    return False
kenneth = Thief()
print(kenneth.hide(5)) # True
print(kenneth.hide(15)) # False
import random
class Thief:
    sneaky = True
def pickpocket(self):
    if self.sneaky: # it binds the attributes with the given arguments.
        return bool(random.randint(0, 1 )) # to execute this statement, we should import 'random'
    return False
that;s a part im wondering !!
def hide(self, light_level):
    return self.sneaky and light_level < 10
    return False
i got it exactly.
But what wonders is that if i replace a code inside hide method written like
"if self.sneaky and lightlevel < 10
     return True"  with "return self.sneaky and lightlevel < 10",
 the output exactly the same.
I thought i understood what 'return' is, but it doesnt look like 'return' and 'if' are different.
And, as far as I know, self inside of a method is called an argument.
But i found something like "self is an instance and it binds the attributes with the given arguments"
I'm really wondering why the below code is worked and what 'self' is called exactly when it comes to vocabulary.

Steven Parker · Answer

A "return" ends the function, and optionally passes back a value to the caller.  The ones here do both.
What you've done is to optimize the code a bit, by eliminating the conditional and returning the comparison value directly.  You can go one step further by removing the "return False" line since it will never be reached now.
And "self" is perhaps more accurately described as a parameter, which happens to contain a reference to the current object instance and can be used to access attributes (as shown in these examples).

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jiwon hwang

jiwon hwang

what is 'return' exactly? how it works exactly?

that;s a part im wondering !!

1 Answer

Steven Parker

Steven Parker