Is return a function in JavaScript?

Question

Apparently return can be invoked as a function?

function say() {
   return (
     console.log("Am"),
     console.log("I"),
     console.log("a"),
     console.log("function?")
  );
}

say();

Does this mean that return is a function?

no - it is still happening directly inside the stack of `say`, not in some new function. — Daniel A. White, Dec 08 '14 at 19:08
No, it is a keyword. Just like ++ isn't a function but you can ++(x) — Benjamin Gruenbaum, Dec 08 '14 at 19:09
this is the syntax of return. `,` is not `;` this is an expression not a statement. — Hogan, Dec 08 '14 at 19:09
Related question: [Why use parentheses when returning in Javascript](http://stackoverflow.com/q/20824558/877472) — Paul Richter, Dec 08 '14 at 19:09
you can put anything between parenthesis. `(a = 2)`. `a = (2)` `(a) = 32` — njzk2, Dec 08 '14 at 19:12
@nicael: that is because of what parenthesis do in JS, and the fact that you don't actually expect any return from this function. The return word is not useful here (see the linked question above) — njzk2, Dec 08 '14 at 19:15

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 08 '14 at 19:22

The keyword "return" is not a function. The documentations says that return is a statement.

The return statement ends function execution and specifies a value to be returned to the function caller.

That means

(
     console.log("Am"),
     console.log("I"),
     console.log("a"),
     console.log("function?")

)

is evaluated as an expression and the result of this expression is returned from the say() function. The parentheses only group the four calls to console.log together. The commas serve to separate the function calls within the expression.

The this expression will return the value returned from the last element in the list, which in this case is console.log("function?"). And the function console.log returns undefined.

So the function say() would return undefined.

Is return a function in JavaScript?

1 Answers1