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Functions - Return Values

by David Stanley    

Sometimes you may want to call a function and have a value returned back to the main coding area. This is done using the return command.

Example :

<?php
function addit($first_number,$second_number){
    $total_sum = $first_number + $second_number;
    return $total_sum;
}

$first_number = "1";
$second_number ="2";
$total = addit($first_number,$second_number);
echo "$total";
?>

Leaving the return command out, the result would be blank.
In the above example, the variable $total calls the function entering two arguments. The function takes the numbers and finds the sum. The sum value is "returned" back to the calling variable $total.