Wordpress using echo vs return in shortcode function

Question

I just noticed, both echo and return works fine for displaying content from a shortcode function in wordpress.

function foobar_short         


        

Answer 1

The difference is that echo sends the text directly to the page without the function needing to end. return both ends the function and sends the text back to the function call.

For echo:

function foobar_shortcode($atts) {
    echo "Foo"; // "Foo" is echoed to the page
    echo "Bar"; // "Bar" is echoed to the page
}
$var = foobar_shortcode() // $var has a value of NULL

For return:

function foobar_shortcode($atts) {
    return "Foo"; // "Foo" is returned, terminating the function
    echo "Bar"; // This line is never reached
}
$var = foobar_shortcode() // $var has a value of "Foo"