Step 3 Input
Table of contents
What is an Input?
With variables, we provide memory for our programme. Our next step is to let the user provide two numbers so that the computer can sum them and show the result. Thus, we need to introduce the concept of input. Input is data received by the computer. In our case, it will receive numbers from the user. It has two elements:
variablewhere the computer memorise the answer from the usermessagethe question being asked to the user
Our input algorithm looks like this:
Input algorithm
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Ask the user [message] and store the answer in [variable]
In Python, this would look like this:
Input Python Syntax
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variable = input("message")
Task 3.1 Ask Users for two numbers
We can repeat the input algorithm twice to ask the user for two numbers. It would look as follows:
Ask Users for two numbers Algorithm
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2
Ask the user "Type in x: " and store the answer in x
Ask the user "Type in y: " and store the answer in y
Add these to lines as comments (starting with #) at the end of the code. Then, use the Python syntax introduced above to translate them into Python.
Ask the computer to execute your instruction by clicking on the green arrow at the top of the page.
This time ‘Type in x:’ should appear in the Terminal window (black one on the right). Type a number and press ENTER. Then, a second message should appear for the value of y. Once again, enter a value and press enter. Finally, the program ends because we do not tell the computer to do anything else.