[Python-ideas] Multi-line comment blocks.

[Steven D'Aprano]

David Gates wrote:
> Multi-line strings as comments don't nest, don't play well with docstrings,
> and are counter-intuitive when there's special language support for
> single-line comments. Python should only have one obvious way to do things,

That's not what the Zen says. The zen says:

There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious way to do it.

which is a positive statement that there should be an obvious way to solve 
problems, NOT a negative statement that there shouldn't be non-obvious ways.

> and Python has two ways to comment, only one of which is obvious. My
> suggestion is to add language support for comment blocks, using Python's
> existing comment delimiter:

There is already support for nested multi-line comments: the humble # symbol 
can be nested arbitrarily deep. All you need is a modern editor that 
understands Python syntax, and with a single command you can comment or 
uncomment a block:

# This is a commented line.

# def fun(a, b, c):
#     """Docstrings are fine when commented"""
#     pass
#     # This is a nested comment.
# And no need for an end-delimiter either.

If your editor is old or too basic, you can do it by hand, which is a pain, 
but doable.

Python doesn't need dedicated syntax to make up for the limitations of your 
editor. Don't complicate the language for the sake of those poor fools stuck 
using Notepad.



-- 
Steven