if statement - Why does this Python function only have one output?

Question

I have this very simple Python function, but there is one part I am confused about. The function is called bigger and it takes two numbers as inputs and outputs the bigger number. (I could only use if statements, no elses)

Here's the code:

def bigger(x, y):
    if x > y:
        return x
    return y

I would think that this code would return y if y is bigger (which it does), but it would return x and y if x is bigger (it only returns x). Why does it only return one output? Can Python functions only have one output?

Answer 1

The return statement not only returns a value, but also terminates the current function and returns control to the calling function. So, this function will only return a single value. In my opinion it would be slightly more clear to write this:

def bigger(x, y):
    if x > y:
        return x
    else:
        return y

but the result would not differ.