Getting Text/Key Input from User and Simplifying Console App Use
Explore how to capture text and key input from users in C# console applications using ReadLine and ReadKey methods. Learn techniques to handle potentially null input safely and simplify console code by importing the Console class statically for cleaner development.
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Interacting with users via text and key input is fundamental to many console applications. This will allow us to build more interactive console applications accepting user input. Let's dive in and see how to simplify console use and capture text and key strokes in C#!
Getting text input from the user
Text input is a fundamental aspect of interactive programs, allowing users to provide information and interact with the application. In C#, the ReadLine method offers a powerful way to capture text input from the user.
ReadLine method
We can get text input from the user using the ReadLine method. This method waits for the user to type some text. Then, as soon as the user presses "Enter," whatever the user has typed is returned as a string value.
If we use a .NET Interactive Notebook, note that it does not support reading input from the console using Console.ReadLine(). Instead, we must set literal values, as shown in the following code: string? firstName = "Gray";. This is often quicker to experiment with because we can change the literal string value and click the “Execute Cell” button instead of restarting a console app each time we want to enter a different string value.
Text input from the user using the ReadLine method
The ...