miscon:programming.functions.multiple-return-values · draft · trust low · v0.1.1 · kind undergeneralization

A function can return several separate values

return a, b sends back two separate values, so the caller receives two things rather than one tuple.

Stable URI: https://open-misconceptions.github.io/miscon-data/m/programming.functions.multiple-return-values
UUID: ba72c8c8-9a30-4f6a-9c9f-50370cde1a2f
Domain: programming.functions
Level band: undergraduate
Locale: en
About: https://open-misconceptions.github.io/miscon-data/c/programming.functions.single-return-value (Miscon)

Evidence patterns

Pattern 0: predict the type of a call that returns a comma-separated list

predicts two values, or that the second is lost, rather than one tuple

Item

def f():
    return 1, 2
x = f()
print(type(x))

Expected<class 'tuple'>

Responseint (or 'error, two values into one variable')

Discriminators

vs a slip. Consistent across items and revealed by asking what x holds after x = f(). A slip is a single wrong type.

Relations

conflicts_with: A function returns one value; several values travel as one tuple (external)
resolved_by: A function returns one value; several values travel as one tuple (external)
return hands a value back to the caller and ends the call (external)

Alignments

progmiscon Python/MultipleValuesReturn (close-match)

Provenance

Origin: llm-drafted

Chiodini, L., Moreno Santos, I., Gallidabino, A., Tafliovich, A., Santos, A. L., & Hauswirth, M. (2021). A curated inventory of programming language misconceptions. In Proceedings of the 26th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE '21), 380-386. doi:10.1145/3430665.3456343
Inventory consulted for the misconception name and scope only; progmiscon publishes no licence for its text, so Open Misconceptions' statements and examples are written independently.

Drafted from the cited literature for the Open Misconceptions seed pack; statement, examples and discriminators are original text. Awaiting maintainer review.

Review status

Status draft, trust low (computed from the reviews below against the reviewer registry).

No reviews yet.

Formats

Raw JSON
CASE 1.1 package (CFItem ba72c8c8-9a30-4f6a-9c9f-50370cde1a2f)
Source on GitHub

Cite

miscon:programming.functions.multiple-return-values
https://open-misconceptions.github.io/miscon-data/m/programming.functions.multiple-return-values