What does the return statement do in a function?

The return statement plays a crucial role in functions as it serves to exit the function and send a specified value back to the location in the code where the function was called. This ability allows the function to provide output based on its internal processing, enabling the calling code to use that output for further operations or calculations. By placing a value after the return statement, you make that value accessible to the part of the program that invoked the function, effectively transferring data from the function's local context back to the global or calling context.

Additionally, if no value is specified in the return statement, the function can still exit and will return a default value of None. This behavior allows functions to either return useful data or terminate without generating a specific output, depending on the design of the function.

Understanding the return statement is essential as it directly influences the flow of the program and the way data is handled between functions.