Can a C++ function return more than one value? [duplicate]

Answer 1

return (a, b, c, ... , n) The statements a, b, c are separated with comma operators and the expression evaluates to the rightmost operand n . So the syntax is correct, but does not return multiple values.

To return multiple values:

• Put the variables you want to return in a structure and return it.
• Or make an array of multiple variables (dynamically allocated) and return the base address

Answer 2

tried using return(5,4); but this is an syntax error.

That is not a syntax error. (5,4) is a valid expression and here , is an operator. So the expression (5,4) evaluates to the rightmost operand, which is 4. Hence it will return 4.

---

Now coming to your problem: define a struct if any existing one doesn't help you, and return an object of struct instead, as:

struct values
{
   int i;
   int j;
   char *other;
};

values f()
{
  values v = {/*....*/};
   //...
   return v;
}

And if type of all values is same, then you can use std::vector as:

#include <vector>  //must include it!

std::vector<int> f()
{
   std::vector<int> v;
   v.push_back(5);
   v.push_back(4);
   //so on
   //...
   return v;
}

There are other containers as well, viz. std::map, std::list, std::stack, etc. Use which suits you the best. There is also std::pair which holds only two values, as the name implies.

Answer 3

Return a structure.

struct a
{
   int x;
   int y;
   int z;
};

b()
{
    a.x = 2;
    a.y = 4;
    a.z = 8;
    return a;
}

Answer 4

There are several ways to achieve that.

1. If you have objects of the same type, std::array would be a good return type for that.
   If you have varying numbers, use std::vector instead.

2. If you have (a fixed number of) different types, use std::tuple:

   std::tuple <int, long, double> f()
   {
     return std::tuple <int, long, double>( 42, 4711l, 3.141 );
   }
   

I know no way to return a varying number of non-polymorphic objects of different types built into the language or standard library.

Answer 5

You can only return one value in C++. If you need to return more information, return a structure (or a container like a std::vector for example), or pass in some variables as non-const references (or pointers) and change those.