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Available in 29 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-29" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">29 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%AF%D8%AE%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AA_(%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%A8%D8%A9)" title="مدخلات (حوسبة) – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="مدخلات (حوسبة)" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bn mw-list-item"><a href="https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B7%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9F_%E0%A6%89%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4" title="প্রবিষ্ট উপাত্ত – Bangla" lang="bn" hreflang="bn" data-title="প্রবিষ্ট উপাত্ত" data-language-autonym="বাংলা" data-language-local-name="Bangla" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>বাংলা</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ca mw-list-item"><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Input" title="Input – Catalan" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" data-title="Input" data-language-autonym="Català" data-language-local-name="Catalan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Català</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sn mw-list-item"><a href="https://sn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nhutirwa" title="Nhutirwa – Shona" lang="sn" hreflang="sn" data-title="Nhutirwa" data-language-autonym="ChiShona" data-language-local-name="Shona" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>ChiShona</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-da mw-list-item"><a href="https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Input" title="Input – Danish" lang="da" hreflang="da" data-title="Input" data-language-autonym="Dansk" data-language-local-name="Danish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Dansk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eingabe_(Computer)" title="Eingabe (Computer) – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Eingabe (Computer)" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-et mw-list-item"><a href="https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisend" title="Sisend – Estonian" lang="et" hreflang="et" data-title="Sisend" data-language-autonym="Eesti" data-language-local-name="Estonian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Eesti</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrada" title="Entrada – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Entrada" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eo mw-list-item"><a href="https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enigo" title="Enigo – Esperanto" lang="eo" hreflang="eo" data-title="Enigo" data-language-autonym="Esperanto" data-language-local-name="Esperanto" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Esperanto</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AF%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%86%E2%80%8C%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF" title="درون‌داد – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="درون‌داد" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%9E%85%EB%A0%A5" title="입력 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="입력" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Input" title="Input – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Input" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-he mw-list-item"><a href="https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A7%D7%9C%D7%98" title="קלט – Hebrew" lang="he" hreflang="he" data-title="קלט" data-language-autonym="עברית" data-language-local-name="Hebrew" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>עברית</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-kk mw-list-item"><a href="https://kk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D3%99%D0%BB%D1%96%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B4%D1%96_%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B3%D1%96%D0%B7%D1%83" title="Мәліметтерді енгізу – Kazakh" lang="kk" hreflang="kk" data-title="Мәліметтерді енгізу" data-language-autonym="Қазақша" data-language-local-name="Kazakh" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Қазақша</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-la mw-list-item"><a href="https://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indita" title="Indita – Latin" lang="la" hreflang="la" data-title="Indita" data-language-autonym="Latina" data-language-local-name="Latin" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Latina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-lmo mw-list-item"><a href="https://lmo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Input" title="Input – Lombard" lang="lmo" hreflang="lmo" data-title="Input" data-language-autonym="Lombard" data-language-local-name="Lombard" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Lombard</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-my mw-list-item"><a href="https://my.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%80%A1%E1%80%9E%E1%80%BD%E1%80%84%E1%80%BA%E1%80%B8" title="အသွင်း – Burmese" lang="my" hreflang="my" data-title="အသွင်း" data-language-autonym="မြန်မာဘာသာ" data-language-local-name="Burmese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>မြန်မာဘာသာ</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nl mw-list-item"><a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingang_(elektronica)" title="Ingang (elektronica) – Dutch" lang="nl" hreflang="nl" data-title="Ingang (elektronica)" data-language-autonym="Nederlands" data-language-local-name="Dutch" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Nederlands</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%A5%E5%8A%9B" title="入力 – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="入力" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>日本語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pms mw-list-item"><a href="https://pms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrada_(Anformatica)" title="Intrada (Anformatica) – Piedmontese" lang="pms" hreflang="pms" data-title="Intrada (Anformatica)" data-language-autonym="Piemontèis" data-language-local-name="Piedmontese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Piemontèis</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ro mw-list-item"><a href="https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrare_(informatic%C4%83)" title="Intrare (informatică) – Romanian" lang="ro" hreflang="ro" data-title="Intrare (informatică)" data-language-autonym="Română" data-language-local-name="Romanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Română</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-scn mw-list-item"><a href="https://scn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ntrata" title="Ntrata – Sicilian" lang="scn" hreflang="scn" data-title="Ntrata" data-language-autonym="Sicilianu" data-language-local-name="Sicilian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Sicilianu</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ckb mw-list-item"><a href="https://ckb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AA%DB%8E%D8%AE%D8%B3%D8%AA%DB%95" title="تێخستە – Central Kurdish" lang="ckb" hreflang="ckb" data-title="تێخستە" data-language-autonym="کوردی" data-language-local-name="Central Kurdish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>کوردی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sr mw-list-item"><a href="https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%98%D0%BD%D0%BF%D1%83%D1%82" title="Инпут – Serbian" lang="sr" hreflang="sr" data-title="Инпут" data-language-autonym="Српски / srpski" data-language-local-name="Serbian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Српски / srpski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sv mw-list-item"><a href="https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indata" title="Indata – Swedish" lang="sv" hreflang="sv" data-title="Indata" data-language-autonym="Svenska" data-language-local-name="Swedish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Svenska</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ur mw-list-item"><a href="https://ur.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%BE%D9%B9_(%DA%A9%D9%85%D9%BE%DB%8C%D9%88%D9%B9%D8%B1_%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%86%D8%B3)" title="ان پٹ (کمپیوٹر سائنس) – Urdu" lang="ur" hreflang="ur" data-title="ان پٹ (کمپیوٹر سائنس)" data-language-autonym="اردو" data-language-local-name="Urdu" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>اردو</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-vec mw-list-item"><a href="https://vec.wikipedia.org/wiki/Input" title="Input – Venetian" lang="vec" hreflang="vec" data-title="Input" data-language-autonym="Vèneto" data-language-local-name="Venetian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Vèneto</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-vi mw-list-item"><a href="https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%90%E1%BA%A7u_v%C3%A0o_(m%C3%A1y_t%C3%ADnh)" title="Đầu vào (máy tính) – Vietnamese" lang="vi" hreflang="vi" data-title="Đầu vào (máy tính)" data-language-autonym="Tiếng Việt" data-language-local-name="Vietnamese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Tiếng Việt</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-yue mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%BC%B8%E5%85%A5" title="輸入 – Cantonese" lang="yue" hreflang="yue" data-title="輸入" data-language-autonym="粵語" data-language-local-name="Cantonese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>粵語</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q1125955#sitelinks-wikipedia" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet 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src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/200313-H-NI589-343_%2849656425152%29.jpg/220px-200313-H-NI589-343_%2849656425152%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="147" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/200313-H-NI589-343_%2849656425152%29.jpg/330px-200313-H-NI589-343_%2849656425152%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/200313-H-NI589-343_%2849656425152%29.jpg/440px-200313-H-NI589-343_%2849656425152%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="5472" data-file-height="3648" /></a><figcaption>Fingerprint reader</figcaption></figure> <p>In <a href="/wiki/Computer_science" title="Computer science">computer science</a>, the general meaning of <b>input</b> is to provide or give something to the computer, in other words, when a computer or device is receiving a command or signal from outer sources, the <a href="/wiki/Event_(computing)" title="Event (computing)">event</a> is referred to as input to the device. </p><p>Some computer devices can also be categorized as <a href="/wiki/Input_device" title="Input device">input devices</a> <sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> because we use these devices to send instructions to the computer, some common examples of computer input devices are: </p> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Mouse_(computing)" class="mw-redirect" title="Mouse (computing)">Mouse</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Keyboard_(computing)" class="mw-redirect" title="Keyboard (computing)">Keyboard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Touchscreen" title="Touchscreen">Touchscreen</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microphone" title="Microphone">Microphone</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Webcam" title="Webcam">Webcam</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Softcam" title="Softcam">Softcam</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Touchpad" title="Touchpad">Touchpad</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trackpad" class="mw-redirect" title="Trackpad">Trackpad</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Image_scanner" title="Image scanner">Image scanner</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trackball" title="Trackball">Trackball</a></li></ul> <p>Also some <a href="/wiki/Computer_parts" class="mw-redirect" title="Computer parts">internal components of computer</a> are input components to other components, like the power-on button of a computer is an input component for the <a href="/wiki/Central_processing_unit" title="Central processing unit">processor</a> or the <a href="/wiki/Power_supply_unit_(computer)" title="Power supply unit (computer)">power supply</a>, because it takes user input and sends it to other components for further processing. </p><p>In many computer languages the keyword "input" is used as a special keyword or function, such as in <a href="/wiki/Visual_Basic" title="Visual Basic">Visual Basic</a> or <a href="/wiki/Python_(programming_language)" title="Python (programming language)">Python</a>. The command "input" is used to give the machine the data it has to process.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Input_(computer_science)&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Input_method" title="Input method">Input method</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Input_device" title="Input device">Input device</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Input/output" title="Input/output">Input/output</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Input_(computer_science)&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zx8hpv4#zyxbgk7">Common input devices</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/visualstudio/visual-basic-6/aa243386(v=vs.60)">Input Statement example in Visual Basic</a></span> </li> </ol></div> <p><br /> </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1012311289">.mw-parser-output .asbox{position:relative;overflow:hidden}.mw-parser-output .asbox table{background:transparent}.mw-parser-output .asbox p{margin:0}.mw-parser-output .asbox p+p{margin-top:0.25em}.mw-parser-output .asbox-body{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output .asbox-note{font-size:smaller}.mw-parser-output .asbox .navbar{position:absolute;top:-0.75em;right:1em;display:none}</style><div role="note" class="metadata plainlinks asbox stub"><table role="presentation"><tbody><tr class="noresize"><td><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Emoji_u1f4bb.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="Stub icon" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Emoji_u1f4bb.svg/30px-Emoji_u1f4bb.svg.png" decoding="async" width="30" height="30" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Emoji_u1f4bb.svg/45px-Emoji_u1f4bb.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Emoji_u1f4bb.svg/60px-Emoji_u1f4bb.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></a></span></td><td><p class="asbox-body">This computing article is a <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Stub" title="Wikipedia:Stub">stub</a>. 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