Final answer:
The first step to ask a user for their first name in a Python program is to use the input() function, which pauses the program to allow the user to type their name and returns it as a string.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first step to ask a user for their first name in Python is to use the input() function. This function allows your program to pause and wait for the user to type something into the console. After they press 'Enter,' the string they entered is returned to the program and can be stored in a variable for later use.
To prompt the user properly, you would generally pass a string to the input() function that contains a message, like 'Enter your first name: '. This message is known as a prompt and will be displayed to the user when the program reaches the input function.
Here is an example of how to ask for a user's first name:
first_name = input("Enter your first name: ")
print("Hello, " + first_name + "!")
This code first uses input() to collect the user's name and then prints a greeting that includes the name they entered.