Return Type

In computer programming, the return type (or result type) defines and constrains the data type of the value returned from a subroutine or method. In many programming languages (especially statically-typed programming languages such as C, C++, Java) the return type must be explicitly specified when declaring a function.

In the Java example:

public int someMethod

the return type is int. The program can therefore rely on the method returning a value of type int. Various mechanisms are used for the case where a subroutine does not return any value, e.g., a return type of void is used in some programming languages:

public void returnNothing

Famous quotes containing the words return and/or type:

    “Real kindness seeks no return;
    What return can the world make to rain clouds?”
    —Tiruvalluvar (c. 5th century A.D.)

    “People forget that it is the eye that makes the horizon, and the rounding mind’s eye which makes this or that man a type or representative of humanity with the name of hero or saint.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)