Returning values

Values are returned by using the optional return statement. Any type may be returned, including lists and objects.

  1 
  2 function square ($num) {
  3     return $num * $num;
  4 }
  5 echo square (4);   // outputs '16'.
  6      

You can't return multiple values from a function, but similar results can be obtained by returning a list.

  1 
  2 function small_numbers() {
  3     return array (0, 1, 2);
  4 }
  5 list ($zero, $one, $two) = small_numbers();
  6