A Python program can be an interactive way to test, debug, or prove your own understanding of the language. This tutorial will teach you how to accept input from a user and use it with loops, conditionals, and variables that are in scope.
The “how to take input from user in python” is a tutorial that explains how to handle input from the user in Python.
You’ve come to the correct place if you’re new to Python and want to learn how to accept user input in your Python scripts. Adding interactivity to your Python programs is a fantastic method to get user feedback.
In this article, you’ll learn how to gather user input for your Python programs in a variety of methods.
Prerequisites
Hands-on demos are included in this lesson. If you want to follow along, make sure you have the following items on hand:
Using the Shell to Get Interactive Python Input
Perhaps you’re working on an application that needs users to provide information such as their age in order to execute it. If that’s the case, you’ll need to utilize the input() function. You may use the input() command to have a user enter a text or a number while a program is executing.
In Python v2, the previous raw input() function was replaced with the input() method.
To access Python, open a terminal and type the python command.
You can tell from the prompt shown below (>>>) that you now have access to Python.
Getting Python to Work
Now, one by one, perform the input() instructions listed below. A user will be required to provide a text and a number in order to do so.
provide input (“Insert Your Text Prompt Here:”) provide input (“Enter your age: “)
Each command takes inputs and outputs them on the terminal, as seen below.
Sample input() Commands in Action
Using a Variable to Save User Inputs
What if you’re working on a project and need to keep track of user input? Variables must be used to store user input.
To show how to save user input in variables, do the following:
To require a user to submit a number, run the commands below, then save the result in the age variable. The age variable’s data type is then returned by the type() statement.
# Obtaining the user’s input as a string # In the ‘age’ variable, stores the user input as a string age = input(“What’s your age?”) # This command indicates that the input is of the string type (age) # Stores the user input as an integer in the ‘age’ variable age = int(input(“What’s your age?”)) # Type Casting – Converts string to integer # You’ll see that the user input is now saved as an integer type (age)
The prompt in the first command below invites the user to enter a number (age), but the input is saved as a string.
After typecasting the input() command, the second instruction changes the user input from a string to an integer. The process of converting a variable data type into a specified data type is known as typecasting.
Unless you typecast the input to another form, such as an integer, the input() instruction turns it to a string automatically.
Using the input() command and typecasting it
What if the age variable was supposed to be a number, but the user provided a text or a phrase instead? In such situation, you’ll need to utilize error handling or conditional logic to ensure that the user entered a legitimate number.
Using a Text File to Save User Input
You could want to receive Python user input and save it in a text file. Let’s do precisely that, but this time using a Python script rather than the terminal.
1. Make a folder on your hard drive called C:/MyScript. Your Python script will be saved in this folder.
2. Copy/paste the code below into your chosen text editor. Save the code into a Python script file (.py) with your preferred name. The text file in this case, however, is called text-writing.py.
Running the code below prompts the user for the name and content of a text file, then saves it to that file. Because Python contains built-in methods for reading and writing text files, the example following is beginner-friendly.
input = name of file (“What is the textfile’s preferred filename?”) # To gather user input, display print(name of file) input(“What would you want to place on this file?”) content of file = input(“What would you like to store on this file?”) # Inquire about the file’s storage requirements once it’s been created print(content of file) # The format is open(filename, mode), and in this example, f = open(name of file, ‘w’) opens name of file in write mode. # Write the content of file input to the preceding command’s file object f. f.write(content of file) # After encoding the content of file string f.close, close the file object ()
It’s worth noting that you’ll need Python 3 to execute the code. To make the code work in Python 2, replace all input() statements with raw input().
3. Change to the directory where you stored the text-writing.py script and launch it using the instructions below.
# import os Import the os.chdir(‘C:/MyScript’) OS module. # Change to the C:MyScript directory. python text-writing.py is a Python script that allows you to write text in Python. # Run the script text-writing.py
The script needs user input for a text file’s name and contents to save in that text file, as seen below. You may name the text file anything you like, but for this example, call it sample-textfile.txt.
I’m looking for a name for a text file.
4. Finally, look at the text file generated by the script (sample-textfile.txt).
The content of the sample-textfile.txt file is identical to the user input value from the content of file variable, as seen below.
Related: [Examples] How to Open, Read, and Write Text Files in Python
Text File Produced by a Python Input Script as an Example
Conclusion
You’ve learnt the fundamentals of taking Python input from users by executing commands in the terminal, saving variables, and writing input to text files during this course.
Use specialised Python libraries like pandas for Excel, CSV, JSON, and other flat files to expand your gained expertise. Why not employ cached user inputs in functions or use them into your loops or flow control?
Understanding Python Loops and Flow Control: A Beginner’s Guide
The “python input() function does” is a function that allows the user to accept input from the user. The function takes one parameter, which can be any type of object. The function also returns an integer value that represents how many characters were actually read by the program. Reference: what does the python input() function do.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you accept user input in Python?
A: There are many different ways to input user commands in Python. Some of the most popular methods are using a switch case statement, or string pattern matching on text strings.
How do you input in Python?
A: Python is a programming language, not an input method. You can write python code in many ways and the examples on this website show one way to do so.
How do you accept a string in Python?
A: You use the string method.
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