Syntaxerror: 'return' outside function
This syntax error is nothing but a simple indentation error, generally, this error occurs when the indent or return function does not match or align to the indent of the defined function.
Example
# Python 3 Code
def myfunction(a, b):
# Print the value of a+b
add = a + b
return(add)
# Print values in list
print('Addition: ', myfunction(10, 34));
Output
File "t.py", line 7
return(add)
^
SyntaxError: 'return' outside function
As you can see that line no. 7 is not indented or align with myfunction(), due to this python compiler compile the code till line no.6 and throws the error ‘return statement is outside the function.
Correct Example
# Python 3 Code
def myfunction(a, b):
# Print the value of a+b
add = a + b
return(add)
# Print values in list
print('Addition: ', myfunction(10, 34));
Output
Addition: 44
Conclusion
We have understood that indentation is extremely important in programming. As Python does not use curly braces like C, indentation and whitespaces are crucial. So, when you type in the return statement within the function the result is different than when the return statement is mentioned outside. It is best to check your indentation properly before executing a function to avoid any syntax errors.