code: def ask(query, default=None):
      
      if default:
          default_q = ' [{0}]'.format(default)
      else:
          default_q = ''
      if sys.version_info[0] == 3:
          inp = input("{query}{default_q}: ".format(
              query=query, default_q=default_q)).strip()
      else:
          inp = raw_input("{query}{default_q}: ".format(
              query=query, default_q=default_q).encode('utf-8')).strip()
      if inp or default is None:
          return inp
      else:
          return default
docs: Ask a question.