C Comments
The comments in C are human-readable explanations or notes in the source code of a C program. A comment makes the program easier to read and understand. These are the statements that are not executed by the compiler or an interpreter.
It is considered to be a good practice to document our code using comments.
When and Why to use Comments in C programming?
- A person reading a large code will be bemused if comments are not provided about details of the program.
- C Comments are a way to make a code more readable by providing more descriptions.
- C Comments can include a description of an algorithm to make code understandable.
- C Comments can be used to prevent the execution of some parts of the code.
Types of comments in C
In C there are two types of comments in C language:
- Single-line comment
- Multi-line comment
1. Single-line Comment in C
A single-line comment in C starts with ( // ) double forward slash. It extends till the end of the line and we don’t need to specify its end.
Syntax of Single Line C Comment
// This is a single line comment
Example 1: C Program to illustrate single-line comment
C
// C program to illustrate // use of single-line comment #include <stdio.h> int main( void ) { // This is a single-line comment printf ( "Welcome to w3wiki" ); return 0; } |
Welcome to w3wiki
Comment at End of Code Line
We can also create a comment that displays at the end of a line of code using a single-line comment. But generally, it’s better to practice putting the comment before the line of code.
Example:
C
// C program to demonstrate commenting after line of code #include <stdio.h> int main() { // single line comment here printf ( "Welcome to w3wiki" ); // comment here return 0; } |
Welcome to w3wiki
2. Multi-line Comment in C
The Multi-line comment in C starts with a forward slash and asterisk ( /* ) and ends with an asterisk and forward slash ( */ ). Any text between /* and */ is treated as a comment and is ignored by the compiler.
It can apply comments to multiple lines in the program.
Syntax of Multi-Line C Comment
/*Comment starts continues continues . . . Comment ends*/
Example 2: C Program to illustrate the multi-line comment
C
/* C program to illustrate use of multi-line comment */ #include <stdio.h> int main( void ) { /* This is a multi-line comment */ /* This comment contains some code which will not be executed. printf("Code enclosed in Comment"); */ printf ( "Welcome to w3wiki" ); return 0; } |
Welcome to w3wiki