Python input error

Question

I\'m running python 2.7.10 on Mac OSX 10.9.5m and it\'s not working. Here\'s the code:

# YourName.py
name = input(\"What is your name?\\n\")
print(\"Hi, \",          


        

Answer 1

For the version of Python you are using, you should be using raw_input instead of input.

You can change this line of code:

name = input("What is your name?\n")

to this:

name = raw_input("What is your name?\n")

While you are using Python 2 it would be a good idea to only use raw_input. When you use input, Python will always try to "evaluate" the expression you are entering.

Here is an explanation on why using input would not be a good for Python 2:

So if you enter a 5, it will come back as the number 5 (int in Python).

But if you enter bob, it thinks you are giving Python a "variable" called bob to evaluate, but bob is not defined as a variable in your program. This example actually gives the error you are getting:

NameError: name 'bob' is not defined

In Python if you enter a variable that does not exist, that is the error you get. Look at this example I made:

I tried printing the variable d without assigning d anything:

>>> d
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "", line 1, in 
NameError: name 'd' is not defined

So, if you want to give bob as a string to your input, input is expecting you to give bob quotes to make it a valid string like this: "bob". To avoid all this, raw_input is the right way to go.

If you ever decide to use Python 3, Python 3 replaces raw_input with input. But it acts exactly like Python 2's raw_input.

Good luck with your programming!

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Here is the documentation on raw_input:

https://docs.python.org/2/library/functions.html#raw_input