Chapter 2: Problem 33

How are documentation comments different from other types of comments?

Short Answer

Expert verified

The key difference between documentation comments and other types of comments is their purpose and syntax. Documentation comments are specifically designed to generate documentation from the source code, whereas other comments (single-line and multi-line) are used for explanations and communication within the code itself. Documentation comments have special syntax and can include tags, while other comments have a simpler syntax and do not include tags.

Step by step solution

Define documentation comments

Documentation comments are special comments that are specifically designed to generate documentation from the source code. These comments usually begin with a special delimiter (for example, in Java, they start with /** and end with */) and contain additional tags to better describe various aspects of the code.

Define other types of comments

Other types of comments include single-line comments and multi-line comments. Single-line comments are used to add brief explanations or notes within the code and usually start with a specific character or sequence of characters (for example, in Java and Python, they start with //). Multi-line comments are used for longer explanations or temporarily removing blocks of code and are enclosed by specific delimiters (for example, in Java, they start with /* and end with */, while in Python they start with ''' or """ and end with the same characters).

Compare documentation comments and other types of comments

The main difference between documentation comments and other types of comments is their purpose. Documentation comments are intended to generate documentation automatically, whereas other comments are used for explanations and communications within the code itself. Additionally, documentation comments have special syntax and can include tags, while other comments do not.

Provide examples

Here are examples of each type of comment in Java: Documentation comment: ``` /** * This method calculates the sum of two numbers. * * @param a The first number to add. * @param b The second number to add. * @return The sum of a and b. */ public int add(int a, int b) { return a + b; } ``` Single-line comment: ```java // This is a single-line comment. int x = 5; ``` Multi-line comment: ```java /* * This is a multi-line comment. * It can span multiple lines. */ int y = 10; ```

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How are documentation comments different from other types of comments?

Short Answer

Step by step solution

Define documentation comments

Define other types of comments

Compare documentation comments and other types of comments

Provide examples

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