What is the effect of using the 'return' statement in a function?

Using the 'return' statement in a function serves the crucial purpose of terminating the current function's execution and specifying a value to be sent back to the caller of that function. When 'return' is encountered, the control flow of the program immediately exits the function, and if a value is provided, that value is returned to where the function was called. This allows for the function to provide a result that can be used elsewhere in the program, making 'return' an essential part of function design in programming.

For instance, when a function calculates a sum and uses 'return' to send that sum back, any code that follows the function call can utilize that result. This makes it possible to build more complex programs where functions can interact and share data seamlessly.

The other options do not accurately describe the function of the 'return' statement. While some aspects of function behavior might seem related, only the use of 'return' actually results in the termination of the function and potentially provides a return value to the calling context.