Python Input Methods for Competitive Programming

Python is an amazingly user-friendly language with the only flaw of being slow. In comparison to C, C++, and Java, it is quite slower. Online coding platforms, if C/C++ limit provided is X. Usually, in Java time provided is 2X and Python, it’s 5X.
To improve the speed of code execution for input/output intensive problems, languages have various input and output procedures.
 

An Example Problem : 
Consider a question of finding the sum of N numbers inputted from the user. 
Input a number N. 
Input N numbers are separated by a single space in a line. 
 

Examples: 

Input : 
5
1 2 3 4 5
Output :
15

Different Python solutions for the above Problem : 

Normal Method Python: (Python 2.7) 
1. raw_input() takes an optional prompt argument. It also strips the trailing newline character from the string it returns. 
2. print is just a thin wrapper that formats the inputs (space between args and newline at the end) and calls the write function of a given object. 
 

A bit faster method using inbuilt stdin, stdout: (Python 2.7) 
1. sys.stdin on the other hand is a File Object. It is like creating any other file object one could create to read input from the file. In this case, the file will be a standard input buffer. 
2. stdout.write(‘D\n’) is faster than print ‘D’. 
3. Even faster is to write all once by stdout.write(“”.join(list-comprehension)) but this makes memory usage dependent on the size of the input. 
 

The difference in time: 
 

Timing summary (100k lines each) 
——————————– 
Print : 6.040 s 
Write to file : 0.122 s 
Print with Stdout : 0.121 s

As we have seen till now that taking input from the standard system and giving output to the standard system is always a good idea to improve the efficiency of the code which is always a need in Competitive programming. But wait! would you like to write these long lines every time when you need them? Then, what’s the benefit of using Python. 
Let’s discuss the solution to this problem. What we can do is let’s create separate functions for taking inputs of various types and just call them whenever you need them. 
 

When you want to take input of particular integers of integers given in a single line

Suppose the input is of the following form 
 

5 7 19 20

and we want separate variables to reference them. what we want is: 
 

a = 5
b = 7
c = 19
d = 20

so, we can create a function named as get_ints() as follows: 
 

Now you don’t have to write this line again and again. You just have to call the get_ints() function in order to take input in this form. In the function get_ints we are using the map function.

When you want to take input of list of integers given in a single line

Suppose the input is of the following form
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

and we want that a single variable will hold the whole list of integers. What we want is : 
 

Arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]

So, here we will create a function named get_list() as follows: 
 

Now you don’t have to write this line again and again. You just have to call the get_ints() function in order to take input in this form
 

When you want to take input of string

Suppose the input is of the following form 
 

Lazyroar is the best platform to practice Coding.

and we want that a single reference variable will hold this string. What we want is : 
 

string = "Lazyroar if the best platform to practice coding."

So, here we will create a function named get_string() as follows: 

Now you don’t have to write this line again and again. You just have to call the get_string() function in order to take input in this form
Adding a buffered pipe io: (Python 2.7) 
1. Simply, adding the buffered IO code before your submission code to make the output faster. 
2. The benefit of io.BytesIO objects is that they implement a common interface (commonly known as a ‘file-like’ object). BytesIO objects have an internal pointer and for every call to read(n) the pointer advances. 
3. The atexit module provides a simple interface to register functions to be called when a program closes down normally. The sys module also provides a hook, sys.exitfunc, but only one function can be registered there. The atexit registry can be used by multiple modules and libraries simultaneously. 
 

While handling a large amount of data usually, the normal method fails to execute within the time limit. Method 2 helps in maintaining a large amount of I/O data. Method 3 is the fastest. Usually, handling of input data files greater than 2 or 3 MBs is helped via methods 2 and 3.
Note: above mention codes are in Python 2.7, to use in Python 3.X versions. Simply replace the raw_input() with Python 3.X’s input() syntax. Rest should work fine.
References: 
1.More About Input in Python 2.7 
2.Output via sys library and other commands. 
3.Input via sys library and other commands. 
4. Python atexit Module docs.
This article is contributed by Shubham Saxena. If you like Lazyroar and would like to contribute, you can also write an article using write.geeksforgeeks.org or mail your article to review-team@geeksforgeeks.org. See your article appearing on the Lazyroar main page and help other Geeks.
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