calling on an if and return result from a def outside of the def in python

March 23, 2024

I am new to python and was wonder how to use the return statement from a def in another def how would I implement that. I know it’s probably an obvious answer but I’m stuck.


    def equal(A):
        if A == 2:
            return ("true")
        if A != 2:
            return "false"

for example, if I wanted to use "true" or "false" to affect something else

>Solution :

You should use the Python truth values True and False as returns. Also you should use if/else rather than two if clauses. So your function should be:

def equal(A):
    if A == 2:
        return True
    else:
        return False # if you get here you know that A does not equal 2

Or more simply:

def equal(A)
    if A == 2:
        return True
    return False # no need for the second clause

To use those values in another function you could do something like

def test(some_parameter)
    answer = equal(some_parameter)
    if answer == True:
        # do one thing
    else: # it is False
        # do something else

I would also strongly recommend you go to The Python Tutorial and work through at least the first six chapters.