Basic Input & Output in Programs

In the Wolfram System's standard notebook interface, you are directly giving input and getting output every time you press (Key1[shift, MacOSXreturnenter]). Although much more rarely needed than in more primitive languages, the Wolfram Language also allows you to get input and generate output as side effects in a computation.

(RefLink[Print, paclet:ref/Print]) — print any expression, including graphics, as output

(RefLink[PrintTemporary, paclet:ref/PrintTemporary]) — print temporarily, cleaning up when a computation is complete

(OrangeLink[Formatted Output », paclet:guide/NotebookFormattingAndStyling])

(RefLink[Input, paclet:ref/Input]), (RefLink[InputString, paclet:ref/InputString]) — put up a dialog to request input of an expression or string

(OrangeLink[File Operations », paclet:guide/Files])

(RefLink[Import, paclet:ref/Import]), (RefLink[Export, paclet:ref/Export]) — import and export in hundreds of formats