Python - How To Return Multiple Values From a Function in Python

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Functions are an essential part of any programming language. A function is a block of code that can be called to perform a specific operation in programming. Usually, a function is used to return a value. This value can be a number, a string, or any other datatype.

In this tutorial, we will discuss different methods to create a function that returns multiple values. We will return different data objects like a list, a dictionary, and other objects from a user-defined function to achieve this.

Use a Tuple to Return Multiple Values From a Function in Python

If we return values from a function separated by a comma, they are considered a tuple. Tuples are usually enclosed in parenthesis. In the code below, we will return a tuple from a Python function.

def return_multi(a):     b = a+1     c = a+2     return b, c  x = return_multi(5) print(x,type(x)) 

Output:

(6, 7) <class 'tuple'> 

Use a List to Return Multiple Values From a Function in Python

Python lists are used to store different items under a common name and at specific positions. Functions can also return multiple values in a list, as shown below.

def return_multi(a):     b = a+1     c = a+2     return [b,c]  x = return_multi(5) print(x,type(x)) 

Output:

[6, 7] <class 'list'> 

Use a Dictionary to Return Multiple Values From a Function in Python

Dictionaries are used to store key-value pairs in Python. We can have the final output in a much more organized format by returning a dictionary from a function with keys assigned to different values. See the following example.

def return_multi(a):     b = a+1     c = a+2     return {'b':b,'c':c}  x = return_multi(5) print(x,type(x)) 

Output:

{'b': 6, 'c': 7} <class 'dict'> 

Use a Class to Return Multiple Values From a Function in Python

Classes contain different data members and functions and allow us to create objects to access these members. We can return an object of such user-defined classes based on the class structure and its data members. For example:

class return_values:     def __init__(self, a,b):         self.a=a         self.b=b  def return_multi(a):     b = a+1     c = a+2     t=return_values(b,c)     return t  x = return_multi(5) print(x.a,x.b,type(x)) 

Output:

6 7 <class '__main__.return_values'> 

Use a dataclass to Return Multiple Values From a Function in Python

A dataclass is a new interesting feature added in Python v3.7 and up. They are similar to traditional classes but mainly used to store data and all their basic functionalities are already implemented. The @dataclass decorator and the dataclass module are used to create such objects. In the code below, we return a dataclass from a function.

from dataclasses import dataclass  @dataclass class return_values:     a: int     b: int  def return_multi(a):     b = a+1     c = a+2     t= return_values(b,c)     return t  x = return_multi(5) print(x.a,x.b,type(x)) 

Output:

6 7 <class '__main__.return_values'>