code does not work in sublime text when using function with "return" statement

I'm new to python programming, and as a beginner I want to start by using a code editor, I choose sublime text 4 but I face this problem, So help me please ! This is the code :

def return_string(your_string):
    if len(your_string) >= 4:
        new_string = your_string[0:2] + your_string[-2:]
        return new_string
    elif len(your_string) == 2:
        new_string = your_string * 2
        return new_string
    elif len(your_string) < 2:
        new_string = ""
        return new_string

return_string("welcome")**

the expected output is "weme" but I get nothing in sublime text output (when I click Ctrl + B).

When I change return to print the code is executed properly.

By the way the code above works in vscode without any problem.

Python doesn't print outside the REPL normally, unless you explicitly tell it to. Add a call to print on your last line:

print(return_string('welcome'))

This is why adding an explicit print in your function works.

You can store the value into a variable first if you want to use it elsewhere:

result = return_string('welcome')
print(result)