Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 exam•Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
A comment is a piece of text in a program's source code that is not executed as part of the program but provides information or explanations for human readers. It is used to temporarily disable a piece of code without removing it from the program.
Related terms
Inline Comment: An inline comment is a type of comment that is placed on the same line as the code it refers to, providing additional explanation about that specific line.
Block Comment: A block comment is a type of comment that can span multiple lines, allowing for longer explanations or disabling larger sections of code.
Documentation Comment: A documentation comment is used to automatically generate documentation for the program, usually containing detailed descriptions of classes, methods, and variables.