Functions That Return Multiple Values

In this lesson you will learn how to return several values from a Go function, so you are not limited to a single return value. This is for anyone searching for "Go multiple return values how to use".

A Go function returns several values simply by declaring several return types, as in (int, int). Picture handing over one box containing two cards, a name and a score.

The sample code has minMax() declare the two return types (int, int) and hand back both with return min, max. The caller receives them together with min, max := minMax(...).

A common stumbling block for beginners is seeing how this connects to error handling. The value, err := someFunc() form you meet constantly in Go rests on exactly this multiple-return mechanism.

In real-world development, getting comfortable with this makes idiomatic Go error handling much easier to read.

📖 Reference code

package main

import "fmt"

func minMax(nums []int) (int, int) {
    min, max := nums[0], nums[0]
    for _, n := range nums {
        if n < min {
            min = n
        }
        if n > max {
            max = n
        }
    }
    return min, max
}

func main() {
    min, max := minMax([]int{5, 2, 8, 1, 9})
    fmt.Println("Min:", min)
    fmt.Println("Max:", max)
}

✍️ Your code

Type your code, then press "Run"

🧪 This site can't compile or run Go directly, so it checks on the spot whether what you typed matches the reference code (scoring happens entirely in your browser — nothing is sent anywhere).