🧠 return vs print() in Python

These are not interchangeable.

def add(a, b):
    print(a + b)

Calling:

result = add(2, 3)

prints:

5

But:

result

is actually:

None

Now compare:

def add(a, b):
    return a + b

This time:

result = add(2, 3)

gives:

result == 5

print() sends something to the screen.
return sends a value back to the caller.

That distinction becomes extremely important once functions start calling other functions.