Thinking about code

[andrewducker]

  If I have a method:
int DoSomething(string someStuff)
{
  //Do Stuff
  return 42;
}
then effectively I have an unnamed variable that gets set by the return statement, yes?

That being the case, wouldn't it be in some ways clearer to have an explicit, named, variable that gets set instead?

int DoSomething(string someStuff)
{
  //Do Stuff
  returnValue = 42;
}

where "returnValue" is a keyword that's used to return the value.

As it is I frequently end up with code that creates (or sets) a variable at various points through the code just so it can be returned at the end.  Making this an explicit part of the language just makes sense to me.

I assume there are languages out there that do this.

Comments

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

I was going to mention VB. I think the choice of using the function name, while I can see why it makes sense, is unfortunately confusing during the body of the function.

[andrewducker]

It definitely clashes with C#, which allows you to pass methods around.