Take Input from User in Java
There are various methods to get Input in Java.
Methods to Take Input in Java
There are two ways by which we can take Java input from the user or from a file
BufferedReader Class
Scanner Class
Command Line Parameters
1). Using BufferedReader Class for String Input In Java
It is a simple class that is used to read a sequence of characters. It has a simple function read
that reads a character, another read which reads an array of characters, and a readLine()
function which reads a line.
InputStreamReader is a class that converts the input stream of bytes into a stream of
characters, allowing it to be read by BufferedReader, which expects a stream of characters.
Note: BufferedReader can throw checked exceptions.
Below is the implementation of the above approach:
// Java Program for taking user
// input using BufferedReader Class
import java.io.*;
class GFG
{
// Main Method
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException
{
// Creating BufferedReader Object
// InputStreamReader converts bytes to
// stream of character
BufferedReader bfn = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
// String reading internally
String str = bfn.readLine();
// Integer reading internally
int it = Integer.parseInt(bfn.readLine());
// Printing String
System.out.println("Entered String : " + str);
// Printing Integer
System.out.println("Entered Integer : " + it);
}
}
Output:
Mayank Solanki
888
Entered String : Mayank Solanki
Entered Integer : 888
Using Buffer Reader Class To Read the Input
Below is the implementation of the above approach:
import java.io.*;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
class Easy
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
// creating the instance of class BufferedReader
BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
String name;
try
{
System.out.println("Enter your name");
name = reader.readLine(); // taking string input
System.out.println("Name=" + name);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
}
}
}
Output:
Enter your name:
Geeks
Name=Geeks
2). Using Scanner Class for Taking Input in Java
It is an advanced version of BufferedReader which was added in later versions of Java. The
scanner can read formatted input. It has different functions for different types of data types.
The scanner is much easier to read as we don’t have to write throws as there is no
exception thrown by it.
It was added in later versions of Java
It contains predefined functions to read an Integer, Character, and other data types as
well.
Syntax of Scanner class:
Scanner scn = new Scanner(System.in);
Importing Scanner Class:
‘To use the Scanner we need to import the Scanner class from the util package as
import java.util.Scanner;
Inbuilt Scanner functions are as follows:
Integer: nextInt()
Float: nextFloat()
String : next() and nextLine()
Method Description
int nextInt() It is used to scan the next token of the input as an integer.
float nextFloat() It is used to scan the next token of the input as a float.
double nextDouble() It is used to scan the next token of the input as a double.
byte nextByte() It is used to scan the next token of the input as a byte.
String nextLine() Advances this scanner past the current line.
It is used to scan the next token of the input into a boolean
boolean nextBoolean()
value.
long nextLong() It is used to scan the next token of the input as a long.
short nextShort() It is used to scan the next token of the input as a Short.
BigInteger nextBigInteger() It is used to scan the next token of the input as a BigInteger.
BigDecimal It is used to scan the next token of the input as a
nextBigDecimal() BigDecimal.
Hence, in the case of Integer and String in Scanner, we don’t require parsing as we did require
in BufferedReader.
// Java Program to show how to take
// input from user using Scanner Class
import java.util.*;
class GFG
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
// Scanner definition
Scanner scn = new Scanner(System.in);
// input is a string ( one word )
// read by next() function
String str1 = scn.next();
// print String
System.out.println("Entered String str1 : " + str1);
// input is a String ( complete Sentence )
// read by nextLine()function
String str2 = scn.nextLine();
// print string
System.out.println("Entered String str2 : " + str2);
// input is an Integer
// read by nextInt() function
int x = scn.nextInt();
// print integer
System.out.println("Entered Integer : " + x);
// input is a floatingValue
// read by nextFloat() function
float f = scn.nextFloat();
// print floating value
System.out.println("Entered FloatValue : " + f);
}
}
Output:
Entered String str1 : Geeks
Entered String str2 : Geeks For Geeks
Entered Integer : 123
Entered FloatValue : 123.090
Example-2:
// Java Program to implement
// Scanner Class to take input
import java.io.*;
import java.util.Scanner;
// Driver Class
class Easy
{
// main function
public static void main(String[] args)
{
// creating the instance of class Scanner
Scanner obj = new Scanner(System.in);
String name;
int rollno;
float marks;
System.out.println("Enter your name");
// taking string input
name = obj.nextLine();
System.out.println("Enter your rollno");
// taking integer input
rollno = obj.nextInt();
System.out.println("Enter your marks");
// taking float input
marks = obj.nextFloat();
// printing the output
System.out.println("Name=" + name);
System.out.println("Rollno=" + rollno);
System.out.println("Marks=" + marks);
}
}
Output:
Enter your name
Geeks
Enter your rollno
5
Enter your marks
84.60
Name=Geeks
Rollno=5
Marks=84.60
Differences between BufferedReader and Scanner
BufferedReader is a very basic way to read the input generally used to read the stream of
characters. It gives an edge over Scanner as it is faster than Scanner because Scanner
does lots of post-processing for parsing the input; as seen in nextInt(), nextFloat()
BufferedReader is more flexible as we can specify the size of stream input to be read. (In
general, it is there that BufferedReader reads larger input than Scanner)
These two factors come into play when we are reading larger input. In general, the
Scanner Class serves the input.
BufferedReader is preferred as it is synchronized. While dealing with multiple threads it is
preferred.
For decent input, and easy readability. The Scanner is preferred over BufferedReader.
