JavaScript: returning multiple values from a function call

A JavaScript function can only return a single value:

function getUser() {
  const name = "Nathan";
  return name;
}

But there will be times when you need to return multiple values from a function. Suppose that the getUser function from the example above needs to return both name and role value. You can’t return multiple values as follows:

function getUser() {
  const name = "Nathan";
  const role = "Web Developer";
  return name, role;
}

const user = getUser();
console.log(user); // "Web Developer"

In the example above, JavaScript will return the last variable role and ignore the previous variables you write down next to the return statement.

When you need to return multiple values, you need to wrap the values in an array as shown below:

function getUser() {
  const name = "Nathan";
  const role = "Web Developer";
  return [name, role];
}

const user = getUser();
console.log(user[0]); // "Nathan"
console.log(user[1]); // "Web Developer"

Or you can also use put the values as properties of an object like this:

function getUser() {
  const name = "Nathan";
  const role = "Web Developer";
  return { name, role };
}

const user = getUser();
console.log(user.name); // "Nathan"
console.log(user.role); // "Web Developer"

By wrapping your values using either an array or an object, you can return as many values as you need from a JavaScript function.

Finally, you can also extract the returned values by using a destructuring assignment as follows:

function getUser() {
  const name = "Nathan";
  const role = "Web Developer";
  return [name, role];
}

const [name, role] = getUser();
console.log(name); // "Nathan"
console.log(role); // "Web Developer"

Notice how two variables in a square bracket are assigned the value returned by getUser() call. You can call the variables using the name you assign with destructuring assignment instead of using user[0] and user[1].

The same is also possible with object data type:

function getUser() {
  const name = "Nathan";
  const role = "Web Developer";
  return { name, role };
}

const { name, role } = getUser();
console.log(name); // "Nathan"
console.log(role); // "Web Developer"

Learn more about JavaScript destructuring assignment in this tutorial.

And that’s how you can return multiple values from a function call in JavaScript. Since the return statement can only return a single value, you can wrap multiple values in an array or an object before returning it to the caller.