How to get input from Java Console

This tutorial will show how to read user input when creating a console application.

Here are three methods how to read from console:

1. System.console
2. Scanner
3. BufferedReader + InputStreamReader

All examples will exit if quit is typed.

System.console

package com.admfactory.console;

public class Console1 {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		System.out.println("Console example using System.console");
		while (true) {
			System.out.print("Input: ");
			String text = System.console().readLine();
			if (text.equalsIgnoreCase("quit")) {
				System.out.println("Exit.");
				break;
			}
			System.out.println("input : " + text);
		}
	}
}

Note: The problem with using this method is that it will not run properly using an IDE. The console will be null and the application will throw the following error:

Console example using System.console
Input: Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
	at com.admfactory.console.Console1.main(Console1.java:8)

Output

Console example using System.console
Input: test
text: test
Input: quit
Exit.

Scanner

package com.admfactory.console;

import java.util.Scanner;

public class Console2 {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		System.out.println("Console example using Scanner");

		Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in);

		while (true) {
			System.out.print("Input: ");
			String text = scanner.nextLine();
			if (text.equalsIgnoreCase("quit")) {
				System.out.println("Exit.");
				break;
			}
			System.out.println("text: " + text);
		}
		scanner.close();
	}
}

Output

Console example using Scanner
Input: test
text: test
Input: quit
Exit.

BufferedReader + InputStreamReader

package com.admfactory.console;

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;

public class Console3 {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		System.out.println("Console example using BufferedReader and InputStreamReader");
		BufferedReader br = null;

		try {
			br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));

			while (true) {
				System.out.print("Input: ");
				String text = br.readLine();
				if (text.equalsIgnoreCase("quit")) {
					System.out.println("Exit.");
					break;
				}
				System.out.println("text: " + text);
			}
		} catch (Exception e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
		} finally {
			/** closing the BufferedReader object */
			if (br != null) {
				try {
					br.close();
				} catch (IOException e) {
					e.printStackTrace();
				}
			}
		}
	}
}

Output

Console example using BufferedReader and InputStreamReader
Input: test
text: test
Input: quit
Exit.