====== INKEY$ ======
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Returns the character (or scan code, for control/special keys) //immediatelly// available in the keyboard buffer, without blocking

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**Implemented by:** [[:basics:msatari:]], [[:basics:trs80:level2]], [[:basics:trscolor:]], [[:basics:trscolor:colormc]], [[:basics:Sinclair:zx81]], [[:basics:Sinclair:spectrum]], [[:basics:BBC:]], [[:basics:GWBASIC:]], [[:basics:MSX:]], [[:basics:bwbasic:]], [[:basics:bwbasic:bw32]], [[:basics:msqb:QBasic]], [[:basics:VBDOS:]], [[:basics:minibasicjs:]]

**With variations:** 

**Also written as: ** 

===== Usage =====
/* For inline examples of syntax, write the keyword between '' and '' (two single quotes) */

INKEY$ will **not** stop and wait for the user to type something. If there is //not// a pressed key or a character in the keyboard buffer, it just returns nothing and goes away. Because of that, the most common way to use it was something like:

<code gwbasic>
240 K$=INKEY$:IF K$ = "" THEN 240
</code>

It was no big deal in the 8-bit era when the BASIC program was the only thing running at the machine, but in more modern multitasking systems this will often sky-rocket CPU usage and make everything slow. It is necessary to give up some time for the system during the loop — some milliseconds per iteration is enough.

==== Variations ====



===== Examples =====
/*
  Below is an example of a code block, using GeSHi syntax highlighting for //gwbasic//. Other styles of interest might be
  //basic4gl//, //blitzbasic//, //freebasic//, //gambas//, //locobasic//, //purebasic//, //qbasic//, //sdlbasic//,
  //thinbasic//, //vb//, //vbnet//, //xbasic// or //zxbasic//. 

  <code gwbasic>
  10 PRINT "HELLO"
  </code>
*/



===== Comments =====
/* Origin of the keyword, opinions, history... */


===== Related keywords =====
/* Keywords that are often or always used along this one */
  * [[GET]]

===== Similar keywords =====
/* Keywords with the same or similar functionality found in other versions of BASIC */


===== In other languages... =====
/* For parallels and comparisons with other modern-day languages */

In many modern languages, it is surprisingly difficult to have something like INKEY$ for input in a text-mode application. In C, the hairy //ncurses// library is probably the most used option.

===== References =====
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