Python Input Function: A Guide to Accepting User Input
Python is a popular programming language widely used for developing websites, designing software, and creating games. One of the significant aspects of Python is its ability to take input from a user during program execution. This article will explore how the Python input function works and various ways to accept user input in Python.
Python input() function:
The input() function in Python is used to receive user input from the console. It returns a string value that can be used in further program execution. The syntax of the input() function is simple: input(prompt), where the prompt is an optional argument.
When the prompt is passed, it displays the prompt on the screen, asking the user for input, and returns the entered value as a string.
Example 1: Basic working of Python input() function
Let’s understand the working of the Python input() function with an example.
Enter the following code in the Python console:
name = input("Enter your name: ")
print("Hello, " + name)
The above code will ask for user input and store it in the ‘name’ variable. Then it will display the output message with the entered name.
Python input() function with String as an argument
The input() function with a string argument works similar to an input() function without an argument. However, the difference is that the string passed as an argument is shown in the user input console, representing what the user needs to enter.
Let’s see an example code to understand this concept.
s = input('Enter your name: ')
print(s)
Multiply two numbers by accepting input from the user
Let’s write a program to multiply two numbers by accepting input from the user. To do this, we need to ask the user to enter two numbers and store them as integers explicitly.
We can use the following code to achieve this:
num1 = int(input("Enter a number1: "))
num2 = int(input("Enter a number2: "))
product = num1 * num2
print("Product of ", num1, "and", num2, "=", product)
In the above code, we take two integer inputs from the user, store them in the ‘num1’ and ‘num2’ variables, respectively. Then, we multiply both numbers and save them in the ‘product’ variable.
Finally, we display the output, which is the product of both numbers.
Prompt as an optional argument in Python input() function
The prompt can be an essential parameter in the input() function, which is particularly helpful in getting specific input from the user. The prompt message can be used to gives hints to the user about what type of input is required.
We can use the following code to understand this:
color = input("What is your favorite color?")
print("Your chosen color is", color)
Conversion of user input into a string by Python input() function
The input() function in Python always takes user input as a string data type. Suppose you need to consider user input as another data type like integer or float. In that case, we need to do explicit typecasting of the input value into the desired data type.
Explicit conversion of user input to another data type
Let’s see another example, where we are taking user input as an integer value and performing mathematical calculations by converting the string value input to an integer.
age = int(input("Enter your age: "))
print("Your age in dog years is:", age * 7)
Conclusion
In conclusion, we have explored the various ways to accept user input in Python programming. We covered the input() function’s syntax and its working, string prompt as an optional argument, user input as a string, and the conversion of user input to other data types.
The input() function is a powerful Python method that can take various inputs from a user, change the program’s flow, and customize the user’s experience.