Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site drux3.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxj!houxm!hogpc!houxe!drutx!drux3!pcf
From: pcf@drux3.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.lang.c
Subject: Re: nested comments
Message-ID: <1234@drux3.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 16-Oct-84 12:55:50 EDT
Article-I.D.: drux3.1234
Posted: Tue Oct 16 12:55:50 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 17-Oct-84 06:30:01 EDT
References: <12904@sri-arpa.UUCP>, <35@tikal.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Information Systems Laboratories, Denver
Lines: 36

> ...  In another language design, there are probably better ways to
> go--such as Ada's "--" which is ALWAYS terminated at end of line.
> (Commenting out a section of code is easy; just prefix each line with --.)

# ifdef ignore

Assuming that you have at most, one comment ending per line, then 
isn't prefixing each line with '/*' just as easy as '--'.

( O.K. so you have to put a '*/' at the end of the block. )

# endif

BCPL (parent of C) has both '/*'..'*/' block comments  and  '//' to end of
line comments.  One tends to use '/*'..'*/' for long comments and '//' for
in-line mixed code and comment. Hence you can use '/*' .. '*/' to comment
out a block of code that has '//' comments. In many years of using BCPL, I
never had any problem with nesting comments and do not know if block comments
nest. I think that '//' would be a useful, compatible, etc addition to C.

	/*
	for( ;; )
	{
		switch(c)
		{
		case 0:	break;		// continue loop
		case 1:	continue;	// break out of loop
		}

		break;	// continue with rest of program
	}
	*/


Peter C. Fry
drux3!pcf