In PHP, comments are used to add explanatory notes within the code that are ignored by the PHP interpreter. Comments help make the code more readable and understandable for developers. There are two types of comments in PHP:
1. Single-Line Comments: Single-line comments start with // and continue until the end of the line. They are often used for brief comments on a single line.
// This is a single-line comment
2. Multi-Line Comments: Multi-line comments start with /* and end with */. They can span multiple lines and are often used for longer explanations or comments that span multiple lines.
/*
This is a multi-line comment
spanning multiple lines.
*/
Comments are not executed by the PHP interpreter and are ignored during runtime. They are purely for the benefit of developers to document the code and provide context for understanding.
Here's an example demonstrating the use of comments within PHP code:
<?php
// This is a single-line comment
$name = "John"; // Assigning a value to the $name variable
/*
This is a multi-line comment
spanning multiple lines.
*/
echo "Hello, $name!"; // Outputting a greeting
?>
In the above example, both single-line and multi-line comments are used to provide explanations and context for different parts of the code.