[R] return inconsistency?

Duncan Murdoch
2025-04-30T13:06:18Z

`return` is a function.  I am away from my computer right now so I can't
check, but I would expect you could create your own function named that.
Other languages have `return` statements instead.

On Wed, Apr 30, 2025, 02:17 Ralf Goertz via R-help <r-help at
r-project.org>
wrote:

> I made a stupid error when programming a function. I used
>
> > return(OR^2+6*OR+1)/(OR*se^2)
>
> Being parenthesis blind it took me half an hour to find the reason for
> the nonsensical results I got. I should have written
>
> > return((OR^2+6*OR+1)/(OR*se^2))
>
> Having said that why is the first variant (which returns the value of
> the numerator only) not a syntax error? I would have expected R to
> report something like
>
> > Error: unexpected '/' in "return(OR^2+6*OR+1)/"
>
> If this is not an error what is its purpose?
>
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