6.1.2  Comments

Comments are text in the scene file included to make the scene file easier to read or understand. They are ignored by the ray-tracer and are there for your information. There are two types of comments in POV-Ray.

Two slashes are used for single line comments. Anything on a line after a double slash (//) is ignored by the ray-tracer. For example:

 // This line is ignored

You can have scene file information on the line in front of the comment as in:

 object { FooBar } // this is an object

The other type of comment is used for multiple lines. It starts with "/*" and ends with "*/". Everything in-between is ignored. For example:

 /* These lines
    are ignored
    by the
    ray-tracer */

This can be useful if you want to temporarily remove elements from a scene file. /* ... */ comments can comment out lines containing other // comments and thus can be used to temporarily or permanently comment out parts of a scene. /* ... */ comments can be nested, the following is legal:

 /* This is a comment
 // This too
 /* This also */
 */

Use comments liberally and generously. Well used, they really improve the readability of scene files.