In an R function, you may use the return function to specify the value returned by
the function. For example:
> f <- function(x) {return(x^2 + 3)} > f(3) [1] 12
However, R will simply return the last evaluated expression as the
result of a function. So it is common to omit the return statement:
> f <- function(x) {x^2 + 3} > f(3) [1] 12
In some cases, an explicit return value may lead to cleaner code.