Abstract
Comments in programming languages have traditionally been used to add extra descriptive information to program source code in an informal manner; programmers have been encouraged to use commenting only as a means of creating readable code and specific code documentation. However, research currently being carried out indicates a dramatic change in the importance of comments within programs. This paper describes the changing role of comments, giving examples of new uses of program comments in the area of formal system specification and verification. The relative unimportance which language designers and implementors have associated with a comment facility is highlighted; the need for different types of comments and their syntactical representation is outlined. An increasing awareness of the power of software tools has lead to integrated programming environments which support the manipulation of source code and possibly its intermediate forms. This approach provides a base for tools to act upon comments in a functional way. Proposals are made which are intended to promote discussion on language design, implementation, and internal representation.
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Morrison, I.W., Burns, A., Robinson, J. (1985). Rationale for Comments: The Effect on Programming Languages and Implementation. In: Agrawal, J.C., Zunde, P. (eds) Empirical Foundations of Information and Software Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2521-5_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2521-5_17
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