Input (computer science)
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In computer science, input (used as a verb) refers to physically or automatically adding data to a system. Used as a noun, input refers to the actual data itself. Once data is in the system, it is available for a device or program to use to produce a desired outcome. For example, a user inputs certain data into a calculator, and the calculator processes the data to reach the desired result.
Input can be provided to systems through a wide variety of input devices, including a mouse, keyboard, touchscreen, microphone, webcam, softcam, touchpad, trackpad, image scanner, or trackball.
In many computer languages, the keyword "input" is used as a special keyword or function, such as in Visual Basic or Python. The command "input" is used to give the machine the data it has to process.