Solidity Functions: Tips and Tricks for Efficient Development

This article will explore how Solidity functions can be used to create efficient and secure smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain by implementing Solidity functions.

During this session, we will also examine some of the key features and benefits of Solidity functions, as well as some examples of how they can be applied in the development of smart contracts.



Solidity Functions

Solidity Functions are reusable groups of code, accessible from anywhere in your program.

There is no need to write the same code over and over again.

It facilitates you to write modular code.

The use of functions allows a programmer to divide a large program into smaller and manageable chunks.

Similar to other advanced programming languages, Solidity also supports functions for writing modular code.

The following sections explain how to write your own Solidity functions.


Declare Solidity Function

Functions are typically defined in Solidity by using the function keyword followed by a distinct name.

Note: keep in mind that it does not match any reserved keyword in solidity programming.

Additionally, a function may contain a list of parameters that contain the parameter’s name and its corresponding data type.

Return values in functions are optional, but in Solidity, if they exist, the return types are specified at the time of declaration.

Syntax

function mrx_function_name(parameter_list) scope returns(return_type) {
// The code and working of the function should be declared here.
// This is also known as function definition.
}

 

Following program shows a function named Multiply_Mrx_and_Ample() to get the product to two uint variables mrx and ample:

Example: 

// SPDX-License-Identifier: 3.0 pragma solidity ^0.8.0;contract SolidityTest{ function Multiply_Mrx_and_Ample() public pure returns(uint){uint mrx=20; uint ample=10;return (mrx*ample);}}
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Correspondingly, the same work could be done by taking an input from the user:

Example: 

// SPDX-License-Identifier: 3.0 pragma solidity ^0.8.0;contract SolidityTest{ function Multiply_Mrx_and_Ample(uint mrx,uint ample) public pure returns(uint){return (mrx*ample);}}
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Example Explanation

In above example we have define a function called “Multiply_Mrx_and_Ample” which takes two unsigned integer input parameters “mrx” and “ample“, and returns their product as an unsigned integer value.

Let’s go through the code line by line:
  • // SPDX-License-Identifier: 3.0: This is a comment that specifies the license under which the code is released. In this case, the license is not specified, but instead, it uses SPDX, which is a standard format for specifying open-source licenses.
  • pragma solidity ^0.8.0;: This is a Solidity version pragma statement that specifies the version of Solidity compiler that should be used to compile this contract. In this case, it specifies version 0.8.0 or higher.
  • contract SolidityTest{: This declares a new Solidity contract called “SolidityTest”.
  • function Multiply_Mrx_and_Ample(uint mrx,uint ample) public pure returns(uint){: This is a function declaration that takes two input parameters “mrx” and “ample” of type “uint” (unsigned integer), is marked as “public” (meaning it can be called from outside the contract), and marked as “pure” (meaning it does not read or modify the contract state).
  • return (mrx*ample);: This is the function body that returns the product of the two input parameters “mrx” and “ample” as an unsigned integer value.

Call Function

A call to the function is made when the user needs to execute it.

The function in Solidity is simply invoked by writing its name in the place where it has to be called.

A function can be called with different arguments.

Similarly multiple parameters can be passed to the function by separating them with a comma.

The following example shows the calling of a function:

Example: 

// SPDX-License-Identifier: 3.0 pragma solidity ^0.8.0;contract SolidityTest{function get_Square(uint mrx_Number) public pure returns(uint){return mrx_Number * mrx_Number; }function get_Square_devide_by_Two() public pure returns(uint){uint mrx_1=get_Square(13)/2; return mrx_1; }}
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The Following code shows the calling of function within another function:

Example: 

// SPDX-License-Identifier: 3.0 pragma solidity ^0.8.0;contract SolidityTest{function get_Product(uint mrx,uint ample) public pure returns(uint){return mrx * ample; }function get_Product_Devided_by_4() public pure returns(uint){return get_Product(2,5)/4;}}
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Solidity Function Parameters

There is also a way to provide values to a function as parameters.

It is possible to capture these passed parameters inside the function so that any manipulation can be performed over them to achieve the desired results.

Note: Multiple parameters can be passed to a function, separated by commas.

A simple function name get_Name() is used here, which takes name as user input and prints it accordingly:

Example: 

// SPDX-License-Identifier: 3.0 pragma solidity ^0.8.0;contract SolidityTest{function get_Name(string memory mrx) public pure returns(string memory){return mrx; } }
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The given code illustrates taking user input and finding their modulus respectively:

Example: 

// SPDX-License-Identifier: 3.0 pragma solidity ^0.8.0;contract SolidityTest{function get_Modulus(uint mrx,uint ample) public pure returns(uint){return mrx % ample; } }
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The return Statement

Solidity provides a return statement as an optional statement.

A function’s last statement returns its values from the function.

The solidity programming language supports the return of multiple values from each function.

In order to return values from a function, the return values’ data types are required to be defined at function declaration time.

You can better understand the working of the return statement referring to the example below:

 

// SPDX-License-Identifier: 3.0
pragma solidity ^0.8.0;

contract SolidityTest{

function mrx_Calculator(string memory mrx_Topic) public pure returns(string memory){

return mrx_Topic;

}

}

 

The given example shows the working of multiple return statements:

Example: 

// SPDX-License-Identifier: 3.0 pragma solidity ^0.8.0;contract SolidityTest{function mrx_Calculator(uint mrx,uint ample) public pure returns(string memory,uint,uint,uint,uint,uint){uint sum=mrx+ample; uint difference=mrx-ample; uint product=mrx*ample; uint divide=mrx/ample; uint modulus=mrx % ample;string memory mrx_ample="After Performing Calculations the results are: ";return(mrx_ample,sum,difference,product,divide,modulus); }}
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Conclusion

Solidity smart contracts rely heavily on functions.

This allows you to specify the behavior, logic, and interaction of a contract on the blockchain.

Utilizing Solidity’s various function types, a wide range of smart contracts can be created.

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