To return a value from a function, use the return statement. Here is an example:

def FtoC(degf):
        degc = (degf - 32) / 1.8
        return degc

temperature = FtoC(98.6)
print temperature   # this prints 37.0

The FtoC() function converts temperature values from Fahrenheit to Celsius. The return statement specifies that the converted temperature, stored in degc, is the return value of the function.

This return value can be treated like any other value: in particular, it can be assigned to a variable. In the example above, the return value from FtoC() is assigned to the variable temperature.

	A return statement can appear anywhere in a function: def FtoC(degf): if (degf < -459.67): print "This temperature is colder than absolute zero!" return -999999 degc = (degf - 32) / 1.8 return degc

A function can return more than one value. For instance:

def FtoC_andK(degf):
        degc = (degf - 32) / 1.8
        degk = degc + 273.15
        return degc,degK

(ctemp, ktemp) = FtoC_andK(98.6)
print ctemp, ktemp   # this prints 37.0 and 310.15

This function is passed a temperature in Fahrenheit and converts it to both Celsius and Kelvin. The function returns two values: the Celsius temperature, and the Kelvin temperature. These are assigned to the variables ctemp and ktemp.

	When multiple return values are specified in a function, they are actually being returned as a list. Your program can perform standard list operations on the list of return values. For example, you can use the list in a loop: def FtoC_andK(degf): degc = (degf - 32) / 1.8 degk = degc + 273.15 return degc,degk returnlist = FtoC_andK(98.6) for convtemp in returnlist: print convtemp In this code, the loop is executed twice: once for the returned Celsius temperature, and once for the returned Kelvin temperature. Each temperature is printed on its own line of output. You can even put the function call right into the loop: def FtoC_andK(degf): degc = (degf - 32) / 1.8 degk = degc + 273.15 return degc,degk for convtemp in FtoC_andK(98.6): print convtemp This example behaves in the same way as the previous one.