Comments

A comment is a note for people who read the program. The computer skips it. Zaka has three markers that start a comment. Each runs to the end of its line.

// A comment can start with two slashes.
/// Or with three slashes, often used to describe what comes next.
မှတ်ချက် Or with the Burmese word for "note".

ကိန်းရှင် အရေအတွက် သည် ကိန်းပြည့် ဖြစ်၍ တန်ဖိုးသည် ၃ ဖြစ်ပါစေ။ // after a statement
အရေအတွက် ကို ပြသပါ။ မှတ်ချက် also after a statement

// A comment can switch a line off without deleting it:
// အရေအတွက် ကို ၀ ဟု ထားပါ။
အရေအတွက် * ၂ ကို ပြသပါ။

၃
၆

The program makes a number called အရေအတွက် (count), prints it, and prints it doubled. The Variables chapter explains how that works. For now, look at the comments: none of them change what the program prints.

Zaka	Reads as	Job
//	—	comment to the end of the line
///	—	same; as a rule, describes the code below it
မှတ်ချက်	"note"	same, in Burmese

Zaka has no comment that spans several lines. Start each line with its own marker.

မှတ်ချက် must stand alone

မှတ်ချက် starts a comment just when it is a word on its own, with a space after it. Joined to the next word, it is read as program text:

မှတ်ချက်ကို မမေ့ပါနှင့်

error[ZK0202]: expected an operand, found "မှတ်ချက်"

Hands on

• Add a comment above each line of the Hello, world program that tells what the line does.
• Switch off the last line of the example above with //. What prints now?

Next: Printing.