Forget To Answer The Result

My single most common error in Smalltalk is to forget to answer the result of a method. This was a very common error I used to make in C/C++ as well. In those languages I solved it by never using them again.

In Smalltalk, I changed the method template to include ^result at the end. Then I disciplined myself always to edit the template, not just replace the whole thing. --RonJeffries

I'm surprised you had that problem in C/C++. Modern compilers will warn you if you don't return the value that was declared, or if you try to use a result that wasn't declared. -- DaveHarris

This was long ago, before I gave up C/C++. They put in that feature for me. --RonJeffries

Perl uses the results of the last expression evaluated as the return value of a subroutine/method. But often the return value returns on the context (scalar or list) in which the subroutine/method is invoked. Every so often... Oops. --DaveSmith

FunctionalProgrammingLanguages tend to have well-defined return statements and in good style, they are quite vital and thus hardly missable. The common thing to return in a block is the last statement's return code. This was probably where it was copied to Perl from.