Multiple Return Values

#description

In Go, it is possible for a function to return multiple values. This feature is very useful as it allows us to return multiple results from a function without the need for additional data structures like tuples or lists.

To return multiple values from a function, we need to specify the return types separated by commas.

For example, the following function returns an integer and a boolean value:

                    
func divide(a, b int) (int, bool) {
    if b == 0 {
        return 0, false
    } else {
        return a / b, true
    }
}

Here, the first return value is the result of the division, and the second value is a boolean flag indicating whether the division was successful or not (i.e., whether the second argument was zero or not).

We can also use multiple return values in a function call, like this:

                    
result, ok := divide(10, 2)

This will assign the first return value to result and the second to ok. If the division was successful, ok will be set to true.

Multiple return values can be very convenient in many situations, for example when writing error-prone code. We can use one value to return the result of a computation, and another one to return an error code or error message if something went wrong.

March 27, 2023

If you don't quite understand a paragraph in the lecture, just click on it and you can ask questions about it.

If you don't understand the whole question, click on the buttons below to get a new version of the explanation, practical examples, or to critique the question itself.

Developer learning path

Multiple Return Values in Go

Multiple Return Values