Java Read Console Input

In this Java tutorial, we will learn how to read input from the console in Java. Reading console input in programs may be necessary to make applications interactive.

Using the console input, we can ask the users to provide the input to the application which application will process, and then will print output to the console.

Table of contents

1. java.io.Console class
2. BufferedReader class
3. Scanner class

1. Read console input with Console class

• Console class is from code package and is used to read from and write to the console.
• System.console() is used to get the reference of system console.
• The readLine() method writes a line to the console and then read a line from the console.
• The readPassword() method is used to read the secure input. For example, passwords and encryption keys.

Console console = System.console();
String inputString = console.readLine("Enter Your Name: ");
System.out.println("The name entered: " + inputString);

The program output:

Enter Your Name: Lokesh
The name entered: Lokesh

2. Read console input using BufferedReader

BufferedReader is supported since Java 1.1. We may see its usage in legacy Java application.

To read console input, we shall wrap the System.in (standard input stream) in an InputStreamReader which again wrapped in a BufferedReader class.

BufferedReader reads text from the console, buffering characters so as to provide for the efficient reading of user input. It makes the read operations from InputStreamReader – less costly.

System.out.print("Enter Your Name: ");
BufferedReader bufferRead = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
String inputString = bufferRead.readLine();
System.out.println("The name entered: " + inputString);

The program output:

Enter Your Name: Lokesh
The name entered: Lokesh

3. Java Read Console Input using Scanner

In Java, System.in represents the stanadard input. By deafult, it is system console.

The Scanner class, when reading from the console, provides methods to read different types of data e.g. integers, numbers, strings, etc.

Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in);

System.out.println("Enter name, age and salary:");

String name = scanner.nextLine();
int age = scanner.nextInt();
double salary = scanner.nextDouble();

System.out.println("Name: " + name);
System.out.println("Age: " + age);
System.out.println("Salary: " + salary);

Above all techniques are equally effective, but I personally like the java.io.Console way. It simply makes code more readable. What is your choice to read the test from Console in Java.

Happy Learning !!