How does Python return multiple values from a function?

I have written the following code:

class FigureOut:
   def setName(self, name):
      fullname = name.split()
      self.first_name = fullname[0]
      self.last_name = fullname[1]

   def getName(self):
      return self.first_name, self.last_name

f = FigureOut()
f.setName("Allen Solly")
name = f.getName()
print (name)

I get the following Output:

('Allen', 'Solly')

Whenever multiple values are returned from a function in python, does it always convert the multiple values to a list of multiple values and then returns it from the function?

Is the whole process same as converting the multiple values to a list explicitly and then returning the list, for example in Java, as one can return only one object from a function in Java?

Solution

Since the return statement in getName specifies multiple elements:

def getName(self):
   return self.first_name, self.last_name

Python will return a container object that basically contains them.

In this case, returning a comma separated set of elements creates a tuple. Multiple values can only be returned inside containers.

Let's use a simpler function that returns multiple values:

def foo(a, b):
    return a, b

You can look at the byte code generated by using dis.dis, a disassembler for Python bytecode. For comma separated values w/o any brackets, it looks like this:

>>> import dis
>>> def foo(a, b):
...     return a,b        
>>> dis.dis(foo)
  2           0 LOAD_FAST                0 (a)
              3 LOAD_FAST                1 (b)
              6 BUILD_TUPLE              2
              9 RETURN_VALUE

As you can see the values are first loaded on the internal stack with LOAD_FAST and then a BUILD_TUPLE (grabbing the previous 2 elements placed on the stack) is generated. Python knows to create a tuple due to the commas being present.

You could alternatively specify another return type, for example a list, by using []. For this case, a BUILD_LIST is going to be issued following the same semantics as it's tuple equivalent:

>>> def foo_list(a, b):
...     return [a, b]
>>> dis.dis(foo_list)
  2           0 LOAD_FAST                0 (a)
              3 LOAD_FAST                1 (b)
              6 BUILD_LIST               2
              9 RETURN_VALUE

The type of object returned really depends on the presence of brackets (for tuples () can be omitted if there's at least one comma). [] creates lists and {} sets. Dictionaries need key:val pairs.

To summarize, one actual object is returned. If that object is of a container type, it can contain multiple values giving the impression of multiple results returned. The usual method then is to unpack them directly:

>>> first_name, last_name = f.getName()
>>> print (first_name, last_name)

As an aside to all this, your Java ways are leaking into Python :-)

Don't use getters when writing classes in Python, use properties. Properties are the idiomatic way to manage attributes, for more on these, see a nice answer here.