When coding, it is always important to write comments that explain your code. Comments make your code easier to read and understand.

Most coding languages have a specific syntax that accommodates both line and block comments.

Let's take a closer look at how comments and simple statements work in Perl.

# Simple statements

**Statements** are instructions for the compiler. They perform operations on variables during run-time.

All statements must end with a semi-colon (`;`) in Perl. This aspect of programming in Perl is similar to C/C++ or Java.

Statements in Perl can be single-line or multi-line. Multi-line statements are handy when writing an expression that is too long for one line. 

Let's write a few statements that perform basic arithmetic operations:

```perl
$v = 4;
$w = 7;
$x = 10;
$y = 2;

$z = $w + $y *
     $x - $v;
```



# Comments

**Comments** are parts of your code that the compiler ignores during compile-time. They merely serve the purpose of conveying information to the reader.

Like statements, comments in Perl can also be single line and multi-line. Multi-line comments are often referred to as 'block comments.'

Single line comments start with the `#` symbol.

```perl
## This is a single-line comment
```

Block comments in Perl are enclosed within the `=` and `=cut` symbols. Everything written after the `=` symbol is considered part of the comment until `=cut` is encountered.
>There should be no whitespace following `=` in the multi-line comment.

```perl
=This is
a
block comment 
=cut
``` 

## Code

We will now write a simple program in Perl that shows how to write comments and simple statements.

=This program will
display 'Hello World' on the
screen
=cut

$string = "Hello World"; # A simple assignment statement
print $string;


How to write comments and simple statements in Perl

Simple statements

Comments

Code