From: Matthew Kerwin <matthew@...>
Date: 2013-04-26T07:09:36+09:00
Subject: Re: Ruby multiline comments and Coffee

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=begin/=end are from pod (perl 'plain old documentation') markers, intended
for the big explanatory documentation block at the top of the file.  Real
perl pod is itself a rich language, with tools for extracting it and
creating man pages and all that.

Neither perl nor ruby have what you'd call 'true block comments'. At this
point it would probably be hard to introduce a good syntax that doesn't
conflict with someone's existing comment style, but I wouldn't mind seeing
the discussion.

Personally I require my block comment markers to have distinct begin and
end tokens. I don't care about nesting, I'm always happy to work within the
spec for things like:

    // /*
    /* 0 */ 1
    // */ 2

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<p>=3Dbegin/=3Dend are from pod (perl &#39;plain old documentation&#39;) ma=
rkers, intended for the big explanatory documentation block at the top of t=
he file.=A0 Real perl pod is itself a rich language, with tools for extract=
ing it and creating man pages and all that.</p>

<p>Neither perl nor ruby have what you&#39;d call &#39;true block comments&=
#39;. At this point it would probably be hard to introduce a good syntax th=
at doesn&#39;t conflict with someone&#39;s existing comment style, but I wo=
uldn&#39;t mind seeing the discussion.</p>

<p>Personally I require my block comment markers to have distinct begin and=
 end tokens. I don&#39;t care about nesting, I&#39;m always happy to work w=
ithin the spec for things like:</p>
<p>=A0=A0=A0 // /*<br>
=A0=A0=A0 /* 0 */ 1<br>
=A0=A0=A0 // */ 2</p>

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