The print function

Any programming language should at least support the bear minimum; letting the user print on the screen. Python has a the print built-in function. Syntax is as follows:

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print(value, ..., sep=' ', end='\n', file=None, flush=False)

I know this looks intimidating at first, but let’s look at a simpler version of this function, then we can build our way to this monstrosity. We will take a look at this simpler version for now.

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print(value, ..., sep=' ', end='\n')

Still looks bad? How about this one:

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print(value, ...,)

Python can print one or more values, by separating them with the comma ,.

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print(1) #1
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print("Hello, I'm learning Python") #Hello, I'm learning Python
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print("This course", "Is AMAZING") #This course Is AMAZING
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x = 1
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y = 2
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z = 3
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print(x, y, z) #1 2 3
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print() #prints a new line

As we can see, we can add one or more values to the print function, and it will gladly write them to the console window. One thing that might be interesting to you is that each value is separated by a space, now why is that and can we change this behavior?

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x = 1
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y = 2
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z = 3
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print(x, y, z) #1 2 3
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print(x, y, z, sep='') #123
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print(x, y, z, sep='Hello') #1Hello2Hello3

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print(1, end='') #Prints 1 but doesnt add a new line
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print(2, end='A') #prints 2 followed by the character A
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print(3) #prints 3 followed by a new line
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print(4, end='B') #prints 4 followed by the character B

The input function

To create amazing things, we need user interaction. The simplest way to do this is via the input function. The input function is used to get input from the user. It returns a string, which is the input from the user. Syntax is as follows:

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input(prompt='')

The prompt is a string that is displayed to the user. It is optional, and if not provided, it will not display anything. However, if provided, it will be displayed as-is without any newlines.

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name = input("What's your name? ")
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print("Hello,", name, "!") #Hello, Ali!

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age = input("How old are you? ")
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print("You are", age, "years old!") #You are 18 years old!

Note

Notice how I added a space after the ? in the prompt, this is because I dont want the user’s input to be sticking to the prompt.

Exercises

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name = input("Enter your name: ")
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print("Hello,", name)

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color = input("Enter your favorite color: ")
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flavor = input("Enter your favorite ice cream flavor: ")
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print("I like", color, "and", flavor, "too!")

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name = input("What's your name? ")
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age = input("How old are you? ")
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print("Hello, ", name, "! You are ", age, "years old.", sep="")