[BangPypers] Multiple return values from a function : Where to draw the line ?

[Navin Kabra]

"Mandar Vaze / मंदार वझे" <mandarvaze at gmail.com> writes:

> Code 1:
> ...
> return dict(fname=fname, lname=lname, saluation=salutation,
>          gender=gender, addr1=addr1, addr2=addr2,
>          city=city, state=state, country=country)

First of all, both functions are returning a single value, a single
dict. So the entire discussion of "how many values should I return from a
function" is irrelevant.

As for which of the two code samples is better, I think it is a matter
of taste.

However, I should point out that in template programming (as happens in
the case of Django), it is fairly common to create and return a dict
containing all the values that are needed for the template. In other
words, it is a pattern that people are used to; and since they're all
values that are needed in the same template, it is OK to club them
together like this. To me, "Code #1" is perfectly acceptable - for this
use case. 

> Code 2:
> user = {}
[ 5 more citation lines. Click/Enter to show. ]
> user['fname'] = fname
> user['lname'] = lname
> ...
> ...
> ...
> user['country'] = country
>
> return dict(user=user)

I don't see why doing the dict assignments into different statements is
any better than simply creating the dict directly. In fact, I prefer the
former (but, I would put each "key: value" pair on a line by itself),
because the intent is much clearer.

Also, you could have done "return user" here instead of "return
dict(user=user)". Which one is better has nothing to do with python, and
depends upon the template language you're using and the content of the
template.

navin.