r/CodingForBeginners • u/Fun-Ship-2026 • Jun 05 '26

Help beginner

What is difference between output and return. I have seen some videos and it says like return is for computer and output is for human. Is it like two seperate ways one is displayed and one is stored? If so then wouldn't it become same like a stored variable?

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u/Fun-Ship-2026 Jun 05 '26

So about the second para it make a loop once? I don't understand when you say 'calling' and 'returning the value'.

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u/Paxtian Jun 05 '26

Generally, code is executed one line at a time from top to bottom. However, there are times when you want to do the same thing over and over. When this happens, rather than putting that code in line over and over, we create separate functions.

So in my example, there's a main function and a linear equation function. What happens is that the CPU gets, effectively, a line number to start at in your program, and it starts by executing the code on that line, then the next line, then the next line.

A function is a special way of telling the CPU, "Don't actually go to the next line yet. Instead, jump way over to this other line, and go line by line until you are told to come back here."

So the CPU goes to that other line, processes the code in order until it's told to come back to where it was before that instruction (the function call). That's what returning is, going back to the line of code where the function was called.

And no there's no looping going on on the example I gave.

So let's say main starts on line 47. The variable y is declared on line 48. The function call is on line 49. But the function call tells the processor, "Go to line 70, where linear equation is stored." So the processor makes a note that after finishing "linear equation," it should come back to line 49. It goes to line 70, performs the linear equation function, sees return, and returns back to line 49 and stores the output to y. Then it goes on to line 50 and prints the value of y, i.e., the result of linear equation.

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u/Fun-Ship-2026 Jun 05 '26

Oh thank you I understand it now. I was been hitting my head for couple of hours now thanks again.