[Python-ideas] Multi-line comment blocks.

[Steven D'Aprano]

Carl Meyer wrote:

> The reason I discourage using multi-line strings as comments is that
> they don't nest (which I think David mentioned earlier). If you've got a
> short multi-line-string-as-comment in the middle of a function, and then
> you try to use multi-line-string technique to comment out that entire
> function, you don't get what you want, you get a syntax error as your
> short comment is now parsed as code.

You can nest two such string-comments, by using different string delimiters:


'''Outermost comment


def func(x, y):
     """Innermost comment or docstring
     goes here

     """
     pass

If you regularly need to do this, you're doing it wrong.
You should be deleting unused code, not commenting it
out. Nested comments as change tracking is *worse* than
no change tracking, in my opinion.
'''



> (FWIW, I don't think this means Python needs a dedicated syntax for
> multi-line comments, I think multiple lines beginning with # works just
> fine.)

Agreed.


-- 
Steven