---
title: do not return outside a function
description: Datadog, the leading service for cloud-scale monitoring.
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  Docs > Datadog Security > Code Security > Static Code Analysis (SAST) > SAST
  Rules > do not return outside a function
---

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.datadoghq.com/llms.txt).

# do not return outside a function

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## Metadata{% #metadata %}

**ID:** `python-best-practices/return-outside-function`

**Language:** Python

**Severity:** Notice

**Category:** Best Practices

## Description{% #description %}

All `return` statements must be within a function. Putting a `return` statement outside of a function may have unexpected behaviors (such as exiting the program early).

## Non-Compliant Code Examples{% #non-compliant-code-examples %}

```python
class Foo:
    return 1  # return must be done within a function
```

```python
def foo():
    return "bar"

return "bar"  # return must be done within a function
```

## Compliant Code Examples{% #compliant-code-examples %}

```python
def foobar()
    return 2
```
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