Describing Code

Programs can be quite complicated and are often thousands of lines long. It can be helpful to write a comment describing parts of the code so that when you or someone else reads it the meaning is clear.

In Python, any time the # character is encountered, Python will ignore the rest of the line. This allows you to write English sentences:

The # symbol does not have to be the first character on the line; it can appear at the end of a statement:

Notice that the comment doesn’t describe how Python works. Instead, it is meant for humans reading the code to help them understand why the code exists.