Why is x returning nil? The return statement works for other vars, but not x

Comments

• MoKaLux Member

  September 2020 edited September 2020 Accepted Answer

  are you using gideros?
  
  nil because x is defined locally in the function squareAndCube (x), it is only visible in this function.

  function squareAndCube (n) -- i changed the variable name to n print ("Enter any number to get the square and cube:") --x = io.read() -- this has no effect in gideros x = n -- here x will be visible in the whole code (global variable) square = n * n -- (global variable) cube = square * n -- (global variable) print ("The number you entered, its square, and cube are:") return x, square, cube end   print (squareAndCube (3)) -- example with 3 print (x) -- (global variable) print (square) -- (global variable) print (cube) -- (global variable)

  

  my growING GIDEROS github repositories: https://github.com/mokalux?tab=repositories

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• zamond Member

  September 2020

  Thank you! I was out walking and pondering this, and I realized it must be something like that. This is what I came up with:
  
  function squareAndCube (x)
  print ("Enter any number to get the square and cube:")
  x = io.read()
  square = x * x
  cube = square * x
  xinput = x
  print ("The number you entered, its square, and cube are:")
  return xinput, square, cube
  end
  print (squareAndCube ())
  print (xinput)
  print (square)
  print (cube)
  
  -----------------------------
  
  I was also able to solve it just be removing x from the function argument:
  
  function squareAndCube ()
  print ("Enter any number to get the square and cube:")
  x = io.read()
  square = x * x
  cube = square * x
  print ("The number you entered, its square, and cube are:")
  return x, square, cube
  end
  print (squareAndCube ())
  print (x)
  print (square)
  print (cube)
  
  Thanks again for your help!
  
  ---------------------------------
  
  On an unrelated note, how are you getting your code snippets to appear formatted they way you are?

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• MoKaLux Member

  September 2020 edited September 2020 Accepted Answer

  zamond said:

  On an unrelated note, how are you getting your code snippets to appear formatted they way you are?

  you highlight your code and you pick in the toolbar code
  
  I am happy to help

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  my growING GIDEROS github repositories: https://github.com/mokalux?tab=repositories

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• zamond Member

  September 2020

  function squareAndCube () print ("Enter any number to get the square and cube:") x = io.read() square = x * x cube = square * x print ("The number you entered, its square, and cube are:") return x, square, cube end print (squareAndCube ()) print (x) print (square) print (cube)

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• zamond Member

  September 2020

  awesome, thank you!!!

  Likes: MoKaLux

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• hgy29 Maintainer

  September 2020 Accepted Answer

  Although this is perfectly valid code and I am convinced that a programmer can totally write "bad code" if it turns out to be more efficient or the best way to achieve a particular goal, I think you should have written it this way instead:

  function squareAndCube () print ("Enter any number to get the square and cube:") local x = io.read() local square = x * x local cube = square * x print ("The number you entered, its square, and cube are:") return x, square, cube end local x,square,cube=squareAndCube () print (x,square,cube) print (x) print (square) print (cube)

  Main reason is: avoid polluting your global variable name space
  

  Likes: zamond, SinisterSoft, MoKaLux

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• zamond Member

  September 2020

  Haven't gotten that far yet

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