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Return is used within functions or statements to return a value to the caller of the function. For example you could use a define the following function:
function test1(text1) { document.write('The value of the parameter passed is ' + text1); } test1('xyz')
Or, using return as follows:
function test2(text2) { return 'The value of the parameter passed is ' + text2; } document.write(test2('abc'));
In this example the document.write would display:
The value of the parameter passed is abc
It can be used to return true or false:
function it_is_positive(number) { if (number > -1) return true; else return false; } if (it_is_positive(-1)) document.write('Positive'); else document.write('Negative');
Another example using is_it_positive:
var string = is_it_postive(123);
Obviously these examples are contrived. But the return keyword is extremely useful at returning variable values of data back from a function, depending on the processing carried out in the function.
The following function is invalid as it does not always return a value:
function invalidFunction(number) { if (number == 1) return true; number = 3; }