Write and Read Console
1. Console.WriteLine()
This method is used to print a specified text or variable value to the console window.
Console.WriteLine(value);
// Print a message to the console Console.WriteLine("Hello, world!"); // Print the value of a variable int age = 25; Console.WriteLine("My age is: " + age);
2. Console.ReadLine()
This method reads a line of text from the standard input stream (usually the keyboard) and returns it as a string.
string input = Console.ReadLine();
// Read a name from the user Console.Write("Enter your name: "); string name = Console.ReadLine(); // Greet the user Console.WriteLine("Hello, " + name + "!");
3. Console.ReadKey()
This method reads a single key press from the standard input stream and returns a
ConsoleKeyInfo
object.// Wait for a key press Console.WriteLine("Press any key to continue..."); Console.ReadKey();
4. Console.Clear()
This method clears the console window, removing all text.
Console.Clear();
5. int.Parse()
This method converts a string representation of an integer number to its equivalent integer value.
int number = int.Parse(string);
// Read a number from the user and convert it to an integer Console.Write("Enter a number: "); string input = Console.ReadLine(); int number = int.Parse(input); // Print the number Console.WriteLine("You entered: " + number);
Note: Assigning to an integer variable:
Since Console.ReadLine()
returns a string, we need to convert it to an integer before assigning it to an integer variable. We can use the int.Parse()
method for this conversion:
// Prompt the user for input
Console.Write("Enter your age: ");
// Read the input and convert it to an integer
string ageString = Console.ReadLine();
int age = int.Parse(ageString);
// Print the age
Console.WriteLine("Your age is: " + age);
Important Note:
The int.Parse()
method can throw an exception if the input string cannot be converted to an integer (e.g., if the user enters a non-numeric value). To handle this, it's recommended to use the int.TryParse()
method, which returns a boolean value indicating whether the conversion was successful:
// Prompt the user for input
Console.Write("Enter your age: ");
// Read the input
string ageString = Console.ReadLine();
// Try to parse the input
int age;
if (int.TryParse(ageString, out age))
{
// Conversion successful
Console.WriteLine("Your age is: " + age);
}
else
{
// Conversion failed, handle the error
Console.WriteLine("Invalid input. Please enter a valid number.");
}
By using int.TryParse()
, you can gracefully handle invalid input and avoid potential exceptions.
Console.Clear(); // Clear the console
Console.Write("Enter your name: "); // Prompt the user for their name and age
string name = Console.ReadLine();
Console.Write("Enter your age: ");
string ageString = Console.ReadLine(); //Parse the age string to an integer
int age;
if (int.TryParse(ageString, out age))
{
int birthYear = DateTime.Now.Year - age; // Calculate the year of birth
// Display the information
Console.WriteLine("\nHello, " + name + "!");
Console.WriteLine("You were born in " + birthYear + ".");
Console.WriteLine("\nPress any key to exit...");
Console.ReadKey(); //Wait for a key press, then exists
}
else
{ // Handle invalid input
Console.WriteLine("Invalid age input. Please enter a valid number.");
}