Values are returned by using the optional return
statement. Any type may be returned, including lists and
objects. This causes the function to end its execution
immediately and pass control back to the line from which it
was called. See return() for more information.
You can't return multiple values from a function, but
similar results can be obtained by returning a list.
To return a reference from a function, you have to use
the reference operator in both the function declaration
and when assigning the returned value to a variable:
For more information on references, please check out References Explained.