Handling user input in Python: Data types and interpretation

How do you handle user input in Python, and what data type is the input?

Python handles user input using the built-in input() function. The input() function allows us to prompt the user for input and store the entered value in a variable. The user input is always a string data type.

Here's how to use the input() function to get user input:

Code:

# Prompt the user for input
name = input("Input your name: ")
# The input is stored as a string by default
print("Hello, " + name + "! You entered:", name, type(name))

Output:

Input your name: Jin Sechnall
Hello, Jin Sechnall! You entered: Jin Sechnall <class 'str'>

When the above code is executed, it will display a prompt asking the user to input their name. Once the user enters their name and presses the "Enter" key, the input is stored in the "name" variable as a string. The type() function confirms that name's data type is "str".

If you wish to use the user's input as a numerical value (integer or float), you must explicitly convert it using the int() or float() functions.

Code:

# Prompt the user for input and convert to integer
salary_str = input("Enter your salary: ")
salary_int = int(salary_str)
print("Your final salary will be", salary_int + 500, "$")

Output:

Enter your salary: 2000
Your final salary will be 2500 $

Code:

# Prompt the user for input and convert to float
salary_str = input("Enter your salary: ")
salary_int = float(salary_str)
print("Your final salary will be", salary_int + 500.35, "$")

Output:

Enter your salary: 2000
Your final salary will be 2500.35 $