Node:Comments, Next:Symbol Intro, Previous:Whitespace, Up:Syntax

### Comments

There are two ways of rendering comments to `as`. In both cases the comment is equivalent to one space.

Anything from `/*` through the next `*/` is a comment. This means you may not nest these comments.

         /*
           The only way to include a newline ('\n') in a comment
           is to use this sort of comment.
         */

         /* This sort of comment does not nest. */

Anything from the line comment character to the next newline is considered a comment and is ignored. The line comment character is `;` for the AMD 29K family; `;` on the ARC; `@` on the ARM; `;` for the H8/300 family; `!` for the H8/500 family; `;` for the HPPA; `#` on the i386 and x86-64; `#` on the i960; `;` for the PDP-11; `;` for picoJava; `;` for Motorola PowerPC; `!` for the Hitachi SH; `!` on the SPARC; `#` on the m32r; `|` on the 680x0; `#` on the 68HC11 and 68HC12; `;` on the M880x0; `#` on the Vax; `!` for the Z8000; `#` on the V850; see Machine Dependencies.

On some machines there are two different line comment characters. One character only begins a comment if it is the first non-whitespace character on a line, while the other always begins a comment.

The V850 assembler also supports a double dash as starting a comment that extends to the end of the line.

`--`;

To be compatible with past assemblers, lines that begin with `#` have a special interpretation. Following the `#` should be an absolute expression (see Expressions): the logical line number of the next line. Then a string (see Strings) is allowed: if present it is a new logical file name. The rest of the line, if any, should be whitespace.

If the first non-whitespace characters on the line are not numeric, the line is ignored. (Just like a comment.)

                                   # This is an ordinary comment.
         # 42-6 "new_file_name"    # New logical file name
                                   # This is logical line # 36.

This feature is deprecated, and may disappear from future versions of `as`.