Python User Input

This entry explains what is an input function and how to use it to get user input from the command line.

In Python, the input() function is used to read user input from the console. The input() function takes one optional argument, which is a prompt string that will be displayed to the user before they enter their input.

Here is an example of how to use the input() function:

name = input("What is your name? ")
print(f"Hello, {name}!")

In this example, the input() function is used to prompt the user to enter their name. The user’s input is then assigned to the name variable. Finally, the program uses an f-string to print a personalized greeting message that includes the user’s name.

Note that the input() function always returns a string, regardless of what the user enters. If you need to convert the user’s input to a different data type (such as an integer or a float), you can use the appropriate conversion function (int(), float(), etc.) to do so.

It’s important to be careful when accepting user input in your programs. User input can be unpredictable and potentially malicious, so you should always validate and sanitize any input that your program receives to ensure that it meets your expectations and doesn’t cause any unexpected behavior.