Step 4 – Getting an answer
Now we can ask a riddle, we need a way of getting the players to give us an answer.
We do this using a command called input.
- Underneath the code you already have ADD: print("What is your answer?)
- Run this now. You can see that it just prints like before
- Now, underneath type: input("> ")
Don't forget the quotes (") and brackets. And do you see that I added a space after the > symbol?
- Now run the program again. This time it waits for you to enter a name.
The > symbol is a classic way to show a player that they need to enter something.
Storing the answer
We're going to need to check that the answer is correct.
To store it we need to use a variable.
- Change the line of code with the input to: answer = input("> ")
- Now run the code
Make sure you CHANGE THE CODE. Don't just add this on the bottom.
It won't seem to make a difference, but the answer is stored somewhere in the computer.
THEORY: the idea of a variable is really important in computer programming. This is the only way we can get the program to store something that we want to use later in the program.
This could be an answer like here, but it could be a name, a number of lives a player has, the score they have in a game, or something else.
A technical definition of a variable is "a named area of computer memory in which something can be stored". The important thing is that it's stored somewhere and that we can use it later on.