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John Stamps
1,712 PointsHow come the printList(list) function doesn't have an explicit return defined?
Is the return value implicit if it's not explicitly defined? When I start creating a function, I want to remember to include its return value. How come there's not one here?
function printList( list ){ var listHTML = "<ol>"; for(var i = 0; i < list.length; i += 1 ) { listHTML += "<li>" + list[i] + "</li>"; } listHTML += "</ol>"; print(listHTML); }
2 Answers
Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse TeacherHi there! Not every function needs a return statement. Sometimes we need to send back the results of our work, and sometimes we don't. In this example, it's building up a string it names listHTML. At the end of the function, it calls yet another function print and sends the string to it. This function accepts the string coming in, so the data is not lost between them. So no return is needed here.
Hope this helps!
Waffles Norton
Front End Web Development Techdegree Student 392 PointsJennifer is correct that not all functions need to have a return. That said, you could make this function for flexible and more usable across other parts of your program by having it return listHTML. Then you could call the function and save the result into a variable and use the ol however you want in the future. It really is up to you and your code!