Python Yield vs. Return: Comparison Chart Python also supports anonymous function. In Python, like other programming languages, the function uses the return statement to return the result of the function. Python function are defined using def keyword. Using the return statement effectively is a core skill if you want to code custom functions … The return statement returns the value from the function and then the function terminates. What does the yield keyword do? A function with no yield is a conventional function: the parameters from some domain are mapped to a return value in some range. Working of yield Statement. yield is only legal inside of a function definition, and the inclusion of yield in a function definition makes it return a generator. You can then iterate through the generator to extract items. When the Python yield statement is hit, the program suspends function execution and returns the yielded value to the caller. When the function gets suspended, the state of that function is saved, this includes data like any variable bindings, the instruction pointer, the internal stack, and any exception handling. A generator function is known as a normal function, but it does so with the yield keyword instead of the return whenever it needs to produce a value. They can return a single value or yield a number of values one by one. The Python return statement is a key component of functions and methods.You can use the return statement to make your functions send Python objects back to the caller code. yield in Python can be used like the return statement in a function. It is a part of the Generator function and replaces the return keyword. In Python generators, yield is used. Python yield vs return. We can have variable number of arguments in a Python function. Head to Head Comparison between Python Yield vs Return (Infographics) Below are the top 10 comparisons between Python Yield vs Return: The yield expression converts the function into a generator to return values one by one. (In contrast, return stops function execution completely.) More Control Flow Tools - Defining Functions — Python 3.7.4rc1 documentation Whenever the control hits the yield call, the function goes in a suspended state. When the Python yield statement is hit, the program suspends the function execution and returns the yielded value to the caller. These objects are known as the function’s return value.You can use them to perform further computation in your programs. Return value. These generator functions can have one or more yield statements. So this statement always stops the execution of the function and returns the value. Moreover, you would also get to know about the Python yield statement in this tutorial. When you call special methods on the generator, such as next(), the code within the function is executed up to yield. Python Generator and Yield Explained Related: Lambda expressions in Python; The official documentation for function definition is: 4. The yield statement, on the other hand, replaces the return value of a function to suspend its execution and sends value back to its caller without destroying local variables. Functions are important part of a programming language. Multiple return values; See the following post for lambda expressions that are used to create anonymous functions. The return statement is used when a function wants to return some value when it is called. However, unlike the return function, yield resumes the execution of the function from where it was left off. However, it resumes from the same context point if called again. When done so, the function instead of returning the output, it returns a generator that can be iterated upon. If we want to iterate over a sequence, we can use yield, but do not want to store the entire sequence in memory. Python return statement is not suitable when we have to return a large amount of data.