Create a menu in Python

The code listing in this reference shows you how to create a menu in Python.

Although we consider this a basic program, you may find some advanced techniques presented in the code. Particularly, on the last line.

Code listing to create a menu in Python

Below is the code listing for this program.

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# menu.py
# Designed and programmed by Alex Shaw III
# Date created:  January 4, 2023
# Last modified: January 4, 2023
#
# This program creates a basic menu to select options by entering a character
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
# ------ Variables ------
 
# Define menu items
#    Depending on the length, you can probably put these on one line
menuItems = ['A.  Menu item 1', 
             'B.  Menu item 2', 
             'C.  Menu item 3']
 
# ------ Menu ------
print('Main menu\n' + '-'*40)   # print menu title and top border
 
for menuItem in menuItems:      # cycle through menu items
    print(menuItem)             # show menu item
 
print('-'*40)                   # create bottom border
 
choice = input('Please enter your choice: ')    # get user selection
 
# ------ Show selection ------
# Of course, this section is mainly for testing purposes
print('\nYou selected menu item ' + choice.upper() + ':')       # show uppercase choice character
print(menuItems[('A', 'B', 'C').index(choice.upper())][4:])     # show menu item value of choice

Output

Here is the output for the above program.

Developer’s note

Notice the technique we used on the last line, to extract the text from the selected menu item. Of course, you may have to break it out in pieces to see what is going on.

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