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<H1><A NAME="SECTION008700000000000000000"> </A>
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6.7 The <tt class="keyword">return</tt> statement
</H1>
<a name="l2h-334"> </a>
<P>
<dl><dd class="grammar">
<div class="productions">
<table cellpadding="2">
<tr valign="baseline">
<td><code><a name="tok-return_stmt">return_stmt</a></code></td>
<td> ::= </td>
<td><code>"return" [<a href="exprlists.html#tok-expression_list">expression_list</a>]</code></td></tr>
</table>
</div>
<a class="grammar-footer"
href="grammar.txt" type="text/plain"
>Download entire grammar as text.</a>
</dd></dl>
<P>
<tt class="keyword">return</tt> may only occur syntactically nested in a function
definition, not within a nested class definition.
<a name="l2h-335"> </a>
<P>
If an expression list is present, it is evaluated, else <code>None</code>
is substituted.
<P>
<tt class="keyword">return</tt> leaves the current function call with the expression
list (or <code>None</code>) as return value.
<P>
When <tt class="keyword">return</tt> passes control out of a <tt class="keyword">try</tt> statement
with a <tt class="keyword">finally</tt> clause, that <tt class="keyword">finally</tt> clause is executed
before really leaving the function.
<a name="l2h-336"> </a>
<P>
In a generator function, the <tt class="keyword">return</tt> statement is not allowed
to include an <a href="exprlists.html#tok-expression_list">expression_list</a>. In that context, a bare
<tt class="keyword">return</tt> indicates that the generator is done and will cause
<tt class="exception">StopIteration</tt> to be raised.
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<span class="release-info">Release 2.2, documentation updated on December 21, 2001.</span>
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