How to Return Multiple Values From a Function in Python

1. Use a Tuple to Return Multiple Values From a Function in Python
2. Use a List to Return Multiple Values From a Function in Python
3. Use a Dictionary to Return Multiple Values From a Function in Python
4. Use a Class to Return Multiple Values From a Function in Python
5. Use a dataclass to Return Multiple Values From a Function in Python

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'>