Implicit return from lambda in Kotlin

Question

It seems that the last line of a lambda always returns that value even if you omit the return statement. Is this correct? Is it documented anywhere?

fun main(args: Array<String>) {     val nums = arrayOf(1, 2, 3)     val numsPlusOne = nums.map { it ->          val r = it + 1         r     }     // numsPlusOne = [2, 3, 4] } 

Answer 1

Yes, this is correct, if the last statement of a lambda is an expression, it is considered its return value.

Here's what the reference says (thanks @KirillRakhman):

We can explicitly return a value from the lambda using the qualified return syntax. Otherwise, the value of the last expression is implictly returned. Therefore, the two following snippets are equivalent:

ints.filter {     val shouldFilter = it > 0      shouldFilter } 

ints.filter {     val shouldFilter = it > 0      return@filter shouldFilter } 

The last statement semantics is also true for if (that's why there's no ternary operator), when and try-catch blocks, and these statements are expressions themselves:

val foo = if (bar) {      doSomething()     baz  } else {      doSomethingElse()     qux  } 

^{See also: examples for when and try-catch.}

So, lambdas are consistent with the language constructs in this respect.

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If you want to make an explicit return statement in a lambda, use the return@label syntax (also, another answer with examples). Non-labeled return, on contrary, works with the nearest fun (ignoring lambdas) and thus can only occur in those lambdas which are inlined.

There was a language proposal to add special syntax for emitting a value from a code block, but it was rejected.