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[SR-2028] "return" in func returning void should not have an argument #44637

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swift-ci opened this issue Jul 8, 2016 · 8 comments
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compiler The Swift compiler in itself feature A feature request or implementation parser Area → compiler: The legacy C++ parser return Feature → statements: `return` statements statements Feature: statements swift evolution proposal needed Flag → feature: A feature that warrants a Swift evolution proposal

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@swift-ci
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swift-ci commented Jul 8, 2016

Previous ID SR-2028
Radar None
Original Reporter swifdy19%7 (JIRA User)
Type Bug
Environment

Xcode 8.0 beta (8S128d), Swift 3

Additional Detail from JIRA
Votes 6
Component/s Compiler
Labels Bug, DiagnosticsQoI, Parser
Assignee None
Priority Medium

md5: 48aff532232ae357d7d9a61770f616ba

Issue Description:

func test()
{
    return   // Warning: Expression following 'return' is treated as an 
                    // argument of the 'return'
        
    print("foo")      // should not print, but it does
}
@belkadan
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belkadan commented Jul 8, 2016

I'm not sure the compiler should treat Void-returning functions differently, especially when closures often have inferred return types.

@swift-ci
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swift-ci commented Feb 8, 2018

Comment by Christopher Brandow (JIRA)

I just ran into this today, and I think this is not unexpected behavior to many users. While the compiler did produce a warning in my case, depending on spacing/tabs, a compiler error may not appear: http://johnszumski.com/blog/unexpected-edge-case-with-swifts-return .

While trailing closures are a common pattern, the lack of required semi-colons in Swift do, I think, lead many programmers to lazily equate a newline with a semicolon, which is not precisely correct.

Adding an explicit notation in order to execute code on newlines after a `return` would be a small price to pay for clarity in a language that does not require semi-colons. (as suggest by author of linked blogpost)

@swift-ci
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Comment by Wes Campaigne (JIRA)

If a programmer puts a return statement in a Void-returning function, I think that's a pretty clear signal that they wish the control flow to end at that point. Maybe I'm missing something related to trailing closures but I don't see how there's a use case for evaluating a Void expression as an argument to `return`, instead of forcing the programmer to have an empty return statement after the expression.

Put another way: Swift has been very good at conditioning programmers to assume that a newline will end the statement except when there's a clear syntactic reason why it shouldn't, and the idea that Swift will view `return \n` in a Void-returning function as an incomplete statement (that should consume the subsequent expression) is non-obvious and unintuitive.

@swift-ci
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Comment by Mark A. Donohoe (JIRA)

Well I just wasted a good half-hour trying to debug why code was running when I was damn near sure it wasn't supposed to be![]( In my case, I was testing a didSet observer and wanted to bail out at a particular point, so rather than highlighting, then commenting out everything, I just tossed in a 'return' statement, then started getting unexpected results since the next line after the return was still being executed. Talk about confusing)!![]( I've been a Swift dev for years now and have never come across this completely unintuitive behavior)

It wasn't until I changed the indentation that a warning popped up telling me what the real issue was. Had I not touched the indentation, I wouldn't have seen it, and would still be scratching my head.

To me this is definitely a bug![]( There should be no closure after a return. If there is, come up with explicit syntax) Swift is supposed to be really great at being clear, and this time, even to a very experienced dev, left me falling flat on my face and I only got to the bottom of it by accident. Very un-Swifty if you will. (Honestly, I'd say this is a critical bug, but considering as I said, it's the first time I've ever seen this, it would be weird. Then again, it only takes one car crash, right?!

@sveinhal
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It is common to “exploit” this in functions that take a completion handler (which is “kinda” like a return value) where you want to both exit from the function, and also call the completion handler.

guard condition else { return completion(nil) }

Etc.

@swift-ci
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swift-ci commented Mar 8, 2021

Comment by Flower (JIRA)

I just spend half a hour trying to find a bug in my code, because closure, which written below return handler in running.

The main problem, that Xcode showed a warning message: "Expression following 'return' is treated as an argument of the 'return'", but I'm used to the message being shown in this case "Code after 'return' will never be executed" and I just didn't pay attention to this message.

I don't know if this behavior needs to be changed.

@swift-ci
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swift-ci commented Mar 8, 2021

Comment by Christopher Brandow (JIRA)

definitely counter intuitive. While I now understand (vaguely) what the compiler is doing, I think that triggering that behavior should require explicit syntax, like `return executionOf({ closure })`.

other than syntactic savings, I haven't seen any case where this is helpful.

@swift-ci swift-ci transferred this issue from apple/swift-issues Apr 25, 2022
@alobaili
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This is the first time I encounter this behavior as well. Like "Flower (JIRA)", I was expecting to see the warning message "Code after return will never be executed".

I think simply a return in a line by itself should mean only one thing: Stop here, exit the scope, and never ever go to the next line.

I consider the behavior to be a bug.

@AnthonyLatsis AnthonyLatsis added feature A feature request or implementation swift evolution proposal needed Flag → feature: A feature that warrants a Swift evolution proposal statements Feature: statements return Feature → statements: `return` statements and removed bug A deviation from expected or documented behavior. Also: expected but undesirable behavior. diagnostics QoI Bug: Diagnostics Quality of Implementation labels Jul 26, 2023
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Labels
compiler The Swift compiler in itself feature A feature request or implementation parser Area → compiler: The legacy C++ parser return Feature → statements: `return` statements statements Feature: statements swift evolution proposal needed Flag → feature: A feature that warrants a Swift evolution proposal
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