ligo/gitlab-pages/docs/language-basics/functions.md

id	title
functions	Functions

Writing code is fun as long as it doesn't get out of hand. To make sure our code doesn't turn into spaghetti we can group some logic into functions.

Instruction blocks

With block(s) you can wrap instructions and expressions into an isolated scope. Each block needs to include at least one instruction, or a placeholder instruction called skip.

// shorthand syntax
block { skip }
// verbose syntax
begin
    skip
end

Defining a function

Functions in PascaLIGO are defined using the function keyword followed by their name, parameters and return type definitions.

Here's how you define a basic function that accepts two ints and returns a single int:

function add(const a: int; const b: int): int is
    block { skip } with a + b

The function body consists of two parts:

• block {<code>} - logic of the function
• with <value> - the return value of the function

💡 skip can be used as a placeholder for empty function blocks, when all the neccessary logic fits into with at the end. It is also possible to omit block { skip } with in the above example, leaving only a + b.

Functions in CameLIGO are defined using the let keyword, like value bindings. The difference is that after the value name a list of function parameters is provided, along with a return type.

Here's how you define a basic function that accepts two ints and returns an int as well:

let add (a: int) (b: int) : int = a + b

The function body is a series of expressions, which are evaluated to give the return value.