Re: Is there a way to do large block of source code comments

[robin.vowels@gmail.com]

On Thursday, September 4, 2014 5:20:49 PM UTC+10, Georg Bauhaus wrote:
> On 04.09.14 04:37, r.nospam@gmail.com wrote:
> 
> > Um, comments highlighted in a different color from the code
> 
> > make it clear which is commented.
> 
> 
> 
> But highlighting doesn't make it clear what the "commented" text
> is about,

Just read the comment.

> and how it is structured.  Since the text is still there,

One would hope that the comment contains some text!

> the current reader (human debugger, reviewer, successor) frequently
> needs to understand it. (*)

Knowledge of English would help.

> Using comment indicators for disabling some source text is 
> the original sin.
>
> However, since the practice of "quickly disabling" a part of
> the source text during coding is commonplace,

And, I might add, during program testing, and in finding bugs in the compiler.

> languages could
> as well start supporting that! Specifically support that, I mean,
> not via generic comments. It needs to be the language, because the
> tools would have to be at least as good as the compiler and its
> error handling code. But current tools tend not to be language
> specific.
>
> Another technique that may do during coding, provided that there
> are no far reaching declarations that will vanish:
>
>    if False then
>       as_if (commented);
>       here_as (well);
>    end if;
> 
> The effect on a future reader will be just as annoying as a
> "commented multiline section" of code. Fans of editors may
> use folding to hide either from sight.