returprogrammers

Returprogrammers is a term used to describe practitioners who focus on designing software around function return values. The concept treats the return value as the primary contract between a function and its caller, encompassing both success results and error information. Returprogramming stresses explicit return types, predictable control flow, and reduced reliance on exceptions or global state.

Origin and usage: The term arose in online programming communities in the 2010s to discuss type-based error handling and return-driven design. It is not a formal discipline, but a descriptive label used in code reviews, blog posts, and discussions about API design and correctness.

Core concepts include explicit return types, result-oriented error handling, and composable function pipelines. Common tools are sum types such as Result or Either, option types, and monadic style that chains returns while propagating errors. This approach is connected to railway-oriented programming, which encourages handling errors at each step of a pipeline.

Applications and practices: API design that communicates success and failure through returns; testing and contracts focused on return values; design patterns that favor pure functions and immutable data. Languages with strong type systems and algebraic data types, such as Rust, Haskell, and TypeScript with discriminated unions, are often associated with return-centric design.

Community and critique: Returprogrammers are active in functional programming communities and code libraries; some critics argue that overemphasis on returns can obscure behavior and complicate error handling, especially in large-scale systems or performance-critical code.

See also: functional programming, API design, error handling, Result type, Either, railway-oriented programming.