Learning Objectives: Returning
Values
Use the return keyword to return a value
Identify the return value of the print statement
Demonstrate the ability to return several different data
types
Create and apply helper functions
Returning Values
The Return Keyword
Instead of just printing data, functions can also return data. Think of the
sizeof() and length() functions. They help return the size or length (in
integer) of an array and string respectively. So the return value of these
functions is of type int. Both sizeof() and length() do not print anything
to the screen, they just return a number. From here on out, user-defined
functions will avoid just printing to the screen. Instead, they will return a
value. To return a value, simply use the return keyword.
/**
* This function adds 5 to an integer
*
* @param num An integer
* @return The integer added to 5
*/
int AddFive(int num) {
return num + 5;
}
int main() {
AddFive(10);
return 0;
}
You’ll notice the program no longer prints anything to the screen, which is
the cause for the message, Command was successfully executed.. This
happens because the function only adds 5 to whatever parameter is passed
to the function and then returns it internally. To see the result, explicitly tell
C++ to print the return value of the function to the screen.
/**
* This function adds adds 5 to an integer
*
* @param num An integer
* @return The integer added to 5
*/
int AddFive(int num) {
return num + 5;
}
int main() {
int newNum = AddFive(10);
cout << newNum << endl;
return 0;
}
challenge
What happens if you:
Remove all lines of code within main() and replace them with just
cout << AddFive(10) << endl; and then return 0;?
Returning Values
Functions can return any value in C++ — ints, doubles, strings, vectors, etc.
/**
* This function adds two integers together
*
* @param x The first integer
* @param y The second integer
* @return x added to y
*/
int ReturnInt(int x, int y) { //int function
return(x + y);
}
/**
* This function adds two doubles together
*
* @param x The first double
* @param y The second double
* @return x added to y
*/
double ReturnDouble(double x, double y) { //double function
return(x + y);
}
/**
* This function adds two strings together
*
* @param x The first string
* @param y The second string
* @return x added to y
*/
string ReturnString(string x, string y) { //string function
return(x + y);
}
int main() { //int function
cout << ReturnInt(1, 2) <<endl;
cout << ReturnDouble(1, 2) <<endl;
cout << ReturnString("1", "2") << endl;
return 0;
}
challenge
Can you write a function that returns a
vector?
If you want to return a vector, one possible approach is to have a
vector be passed as a parameter. You can then modify the vector in
some way, and then return it to the system.
Sample Code
The code below takes a vector of numbers as a parameter for the
function MultiplyFive(). The function creates a new empty vector,
multiplies each element of the parameter vector by 5, and then adds
those new products to the new vector. Finally, the new vector is
returned. To print the returned vector, use another enhanced for loop
to iterate through the vector after it has been initialized.
vector<int> MultiplyFive(vector<int>& my_list) {
vector<int> new_list;
for (auto a : my_list) {
new_list.push_back(a * 5);
}
return new_list;
}
int main() {
vector<int> numbers;
numbers.push_back(1);
numbers.push_back(2);
numbers.push_back(3);
numbers.push_back(4);
numbers.push_back(5);
vector<int> print_list = MultiplyFive(numbers);
for (auto a : print_list) {
cout << a << endl;
}
return 0;
}
Alternatively, you can also type the function as void which results in
fewer lines of code.
void MultiplyFive(vector<int>& my_list) {
vector<int> new_list;
for (auto a : my_list) {
new_list.push_back(a * 5);
}
for (auto a : new_list) {
cout << a << endl;
}
}
int main() {
vector<int> numbers;
numbers.push_back(1);
numbers.push_back(2);
numbers.push_back(3);
numbers.push_back(4);
numbers.push_back(5);
MultiplyFive(numbers);
return 0;
}
Helper Functions
Helper Functions
Helper functions are functions that are called from within other functions.
Take, for example, the formula for calculating the area of a circle:
It would be quite easy to write a C++ function to calculate the area of a
circle. However, instead of knowing the radius of the circle, you have the
X/Y coordinates for a point at the center of the circle and another point on
the circle. The distance formula (which is based on the Pythagorean
Theorem) can calculate the radius of the circle.
.guides/img/Radius
The FindRadius() function uses the distance formula to calculate the
distance between 2 pairs of points. The FindArea() function finds the area
of a circle by relying on the FindRadius() function. Therefore, the
FindRadius() function is a helper function. Helper functions help shorten
how much code is needed to accomplish certain tasks.
/**
* This function finds the radius of a circle given
* two coordinate points
*
* @param x1 A double of the first x-coordinate
* @param y1 A double of the first y-coordinate
* @param x2 A double of the second x-coordinate
* @param y2 A double of the second y-coordinate
* @return The radius of a circle in double
*/
double FindRadius(double x1, double y1, double x2, double y2) {
return(sqrt(pow(x2 - x1, 2) + pow(y2 - y1, 2)));
}
/**
* This function finds the area of a circle given
* two coordinate points
*
* @param x1 A double of the first x-coordinate
* @param y1 A double of the first y-coordinate
* @param x2 A double of the second x-coordinate
* @param y2 A double of the second y-coordinate
* @return The area of a circle in double
*/
double FindArea(double x1, double y1, double x2, double y2) {
return(M_PI * pow(FindRadius(x1, y1, x2, y2), 2));
}
int main() {
cout << FindArea(0.0, 0.0, 4.0, 4.0) << endl;
return 0;
}
info
Math Functions
Note that in order to perform certain functions such as finding a
square or an exponent, we need to include <math.h> in our header as
well as to define M_PI which represents pi. If you remove these from
the program header, the math functions associated with <math.h> will
no longer work. In essence, these functions also serve as helper
functions.
Formative Assessment 1
Formative Assessment 2
