How to comment out a block of code in Python
Solution 1
Python does not have such a mechanism. Prepend a #
to each line to block comment. For more information see PEP 8. Most Python IDEs support a mechanism to do the block-commenting-with-hash-signs automatically for you. For example, in IDLE on my machine, it's Alt+3 and Alt+4.
Don't use triple-quotes; as you discovered, this is for documentation strings not block comments, although it has a similar effect. If you're just commenting things out temporarily, this is fine as a temporary measure.
Solution 2
The only cure I know for this is a good editor. Sorry.
Solution 3
Hide the triple quotes in a context that won't be mistaken for a docstring, eg:
'''
...statements...
''' and None
or:
if False: '''
...statements...
'''
Solution 4
The only way you can do this without triple quotes is to add an:
if False:
And then indent all your code. Note that the code will still need to have proper syntax.
Many Python IDEs can add #
for you on each selected line, and remove them when un-commenting too. Likewise, if you use vi or Emacs you can create a macro to do this for you for a block of code.
Solution 5
In JetBrains PyCharm on Mac use Command + / to comment/uncomment selected block of code. On Windows, use CTRL + /.
Comments
-
gbarry over 2 years
Is there a mechanism to comment out large blocks of Python code?
Right now, the only ways I can see of commenting out code are to either start every line with a
#
, or to enclose the code in triple quotes:"""
.The problem with these is that inserting
#
before every line is cumbersome and"""
makes the string I want to use as a comment show up in generated documentation.After reading all comments, the answer seems to be "No".