title: How do you define a variable as a users response without type casting?
body: <p>In Python how do you define a variable as a users response without type casting the response?</p>
  
  <p>if the variable is <code>a</code></p>
  
  <pre><code>a = raw_input("ENTER A NUMBER") # type casts "a" as a string
  a = input("ENTER A NUMBER")     # type casts "a" as a integer
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>How do I let the computer decide what the the answer type the answer is?</p>