Re: Where are returned values stored?

["Marius Amado Alves" <amado.alves@netcabo.pt>]

>  It has a declarative part in the middle of the code, in which a
> variable (Result)  is declared.  The stuff in that variable is
> returned.

This is a common idiom. In many languages. Don't think in machine terms,
think in language terms. *Values* are being passed around, not objects. You
are already thinking value (stuff in that variable), so that's good. When
you call the function, you provide a place, usually a variable, to hold the
value.

   Object := Function_Call;

So no worries. The value might have travelled to Japan and back, but that's
the machine business, not the programmer's. Now it's held in your Object,
and that's all you need. This from a function user standpoint. From a
function writer standpoint, well, think value again. When you write

   return Result;

you're passing the value. Under the language contract, the user we'll catch
it. (In Ada he has to catch it, in C he can drop it on the spot.)