When we have code in Python, one of the most important tools for organizing and explaining code snippets is the use of comments. Comments allow us to explain the functionality or purpose of parts of the code, which is particularly helpful for developers who can only view the code and do not have any understanding of its functionality.
Using comments effectively can make the process of maintaining and modifying code much simpler, because when programmers or even we ourselves look back at the code after some time, we can quickly understand what each part of the code does.
In the Python programming language, comments are created simply using the symbol #. Anything that follows this symbol until the end of the line is considered a comment and is ignored by the Python interpreter.
Additionally, we can use multi-line comments that are usually enclosed in triple quotes (''' ''' or """ """), as well as for documenting the purpose and functionality of functions and classes.
In the code below, we will examine some examples of comment usage in Python:
# This is a single-line comment
x = 10 # This line creates a variable named x
"""
This is a multi-line comment
that we can use for longer explanations
"""
def add(a, b):
"""Function for adding two numbers"""
return a + b
#: Used to create a single-line comment. We can use it anywhere in the code, and any text following it on that line is not considered a part of the code.
x = 10 # This line creates a variable named x: Describes the variable x and provides a brief explanation of its functionality on the same line.
""": Used for multi-line comments. These are also referred to as docstrings for documenting functions and classes.
def add(a, b):: This defines a function for adding two numbers, which is explained in the docstring following it.