Why should input(prompt="hello:") fail?

[Peter Hansen]

zhi wrote:
> 
> Really confused, when I use keyword style argument as following:
> 
> >>> input(prompt="hello")
> 
> Traceback (most recent call last):
>   File "<pyshell#52>", line 1, in -toplevel-
>     input(prompt="hello")
> TypeError: input() takes no keyword arguments
> 
> While the library reference says the function is: input( [prompt])
> so, it should work.:(

No, it shouldn't.  The argument is not shown with a name, so you
are supposed to use just a position argument, as in input('hello').

Note however that input() is a poor choice for serious work: you 
should quickly get past the point of wanting to use it and learn
why raw_input() is a better choice.

-Peter