A statement is a unit of code that represents an instruction or an action for the computer to do. For example, in GDScript, a line defining a variable or a function is a statement. A line that creates an if block is a statement, and so is a line that calls a function.
It's different from expressions, which are units of codes that output a value. A statement is a more generic concept.
In the GDScript code below, each line is a statement:
var health := 100
func heal():
health += 10
if health > 100:
health = 100
So, when you read something like "an if statement" or "a return statement", the author talks about a specific type of instruction or action. Respectively, if condition:
and return
in the example above.See Also
Related terms in the Glossary