What does it mean to 'comment out' portions of code?

• A. Marks portions of code as a comment so it won't run with the rest of the code
• B. Makes the code run faster
• C. Deletes the code from the source file
• D. Encrypts the code so it cannot be read

Answer: (A)

Commenting out portions of code means turning those lines into comments so the compiler or interpreter ignores them during execution. This lets you temporarily disable parts of your program while keeping the code in the file for reference or later use, which is handy for testing or debugging. Different languages use different syntax for comments, such as // for a single line, /* … */ for a block, or # in languages like Python. Because the code is treated as a comment, it won’t run, and this does not speed up the program, delete the code, or encrypt anything.