Scope Variables and Return Statement in Python | Python Theory

Scope of Variables

All variables in a program may not be accessible at all locations in that program. This depends on where you have declared a variable.

The scope of a variable determines the portion of the program where you can access a particular identifier. There are two basic scopes of variables in Python −

• Global variables
• Local variables

Global vs. Local variables

Variables that are defined inside a function body has a local scope, and those defined outside have a global scope.

This means that local variables can be accessed only inside the function in which they are declared, whereas global variables can be accessed throughout the program body by all functions. When you call a function, the variables declared inside it are brought into scope. Following is a simple example −

total = 0; # This is global variable.

# Function definition is here

def sum( arg1, arg2 ):

   # Add both the parameters and return them."

   total = arg1 + arg2; # Here total is local variable.

   print "Inside the function local total : ", total

   return total;

# Now you can call sum function

sum( 10, 20 );

print "Outside the function global total: ", total

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −

Inside the function local total: 30

Outside the function global total :  0

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The return statement

The return statement is used to exit a function and go back to the place from where it was called.The statement return [expression] exits a function, optionally passing back an expression to the caller. A return statement with no arguments is the same as return None.

Syntax of return

return [expression_list]

This statement can contain an expression which gets evaluated and the value is returned. If there is no expression in the statement or the return statement itself is not present inside a function, then the function will return the None object.

For example:-

All the above examples are not returning any value. You can return a value from a function as follows −

# Function definition is here

def sum( arg1, arg2 ):

   # Add both the parameters and return them."

   total = arg1 + arg2

   print "Inside the function : ", total

   return total;

# Now you can call sum function

total = sum( 10, 20 );

print "Outside the function : ", total

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −

Inside the function: 30