## 1.3.4 Comments

Comments are documentation aids that do not affect program processing. You can use them to describe the actions of a program, identify program sections and processes, and provide greater ease in reading a source program listing.

Comments can precede the first statement of a program unit or appear anywhere within a program unit.

A comment can be any one of the following:

- The letter C (or c) or an asterisk (*) in column 1 of a source line. If the letter C begins a compiler directive (such as CDEC$ IDENT), it is not interpreted as a comment.

- An exclamation point (!) anywhere in a source line, unless the symbol appears in a Hollerith or character constant, in column 6 of a fixed-format line, or inside a placeholder (associated with the compiler option DESIGN on VAX processors).

  The comment extends from the exclamation point to the end of the line.

- A blank source line.

For More Information:

- On compiler directives, see Chapter 11.

- On compiler options, in general, see your user manual.

- On names of compiler options used in this manual, see Section E.4.

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