freeCodeCamp/guide/english/java/comments-in-java/index.md

---
title: Comments in Java
---
## Comments in Java

Comments in Java are like real life sticky notes used to display some helpful information, which other programmers or developers can read and understand.

It is good practice to add comments to your code, especially when working with a team. This helps future developers and teammates to more easily understand at your code. Comments make your code more neat and organized.

Java comments are not executed by the compiler or interpreter.


### Types of Java Comments

#### 1. Single-Line Comments

To create a single-line comment just add two `//` forward slashes before the text.

```java
// This is how a single-line comment looks
```

#### 2. Multi-Line Comments

In some editors you can comment out multiple lines or a large portion of code with single line comments by selecting the code, holding the `command` key, and then pressing the `/` forward slash key.

To create a multi-line comment, wrap the lines in between `/*` multiple lines go here `*/`

```java
public class MyFirstJava {  
    public static void main(String[] args) {  
    /* This Java code 
       Prints out "Hello world!"
       and you are looking at a multi-line comment 
    */
        System.out.println("Hello world!");  
    }  
}  
```

#### 3. Documentation Comments

Documentation comments are used by the Javadoc tool to create documentation for the code. Documentation comments are used by developers to document code, such as explaining what a class or method does. These comments are parsed by a Javadoc tool, which will compile a preformatted set of HTML files containing all the information available in the comments. 
```java
/**
 * The following Java program displays a random integer between 0 - 50.
 * Most developers don't document simple programs like this.
 * 
 * @author      Quincy Larson
 * @version     1.0
 */

public class RandomNumbers{  
    public static void main(String[] args) {  
        int random = (int)(Math.random() * 50 + 1);
        System.out.println("Hello World");  
    }  
}  
```


#### More Information:
* [Java Resources](http://guide.freecodecamp.org/java/resources/)

* [Compiled Javadoc Example](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/)