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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Input (computer science)</span></span>
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<p>In <a href="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="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="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 devices are used to send instructions to the computer, some common examples of computer input devices are:
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<ul><li>Mouse</li>
<li><a href="Keyboard_(computing)" class="mw-redirect" title="Keyboard (computing)">Keyboard</a></li>
<li><a href="Touchscreen" title="Touchscreen">Touchscreen</a></li>
<li><a href="Microphone" title="Microphone">Microphone</a></li>
<li><a href="Webcam" title="Webcam">Webcam</a></li>
<li><a href="Softcam" title="Softcam">Softcam</a></li>
<li><a href="Touchpad" title="Touchpad">Touchpad</a></li>
<li><a href="Trackpad" class="mw-redirect" title="Trackpad">Trackpad</a></li>
<li><a href="Image_scanner" title="Image scanner">Image scanner</a></li>
<li><a href="Trackball" title="Trackball">Trackball</a></li></ul>
<p>Many <a href="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="Central_processing_unit" title="Central processing unit">processor</a> or the <a href="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="Visual_Basic" title="Visual Basic">Visual Basic</a> or <a href="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>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2></div>
<ul><li><a href="Input_method" title="Input method">Input method</a></li>
<li><a href="Input_device" title="Input device">Input device</a></li>
<li><a href="Input/output" title="Input/output">Input/output</a></li></ul>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>
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<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>
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<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>
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