====== REM ======
Introduces a single-line comment; sometimes used for embedded //meta-commands// in the code


**Implemented by:** [[:basics:Dartmouth:dartmouth1]], [[:basics:ANSI:ansimin]], [[:basics:ANSI:ansifull]], [[:basics:hptsb:]], [[:basics:decbasic:]], [[:basics:Altair:]], [[:basics:a2int:]], [[:basics:Applesoft:]], [[:basics:TI994:]], [[:basics:CBM:]], [[:basics:Atari:]], [[:basics:msatari:]], [[:basics:trs80:level2]], [[:basics:trscolor:]], [[:basics:trscolor:colormc]], [[:basics:Sinclair:]], [[:basics:Atom:]], [[:basics:BBC:]], [[:basics:GWBASIC:]], [[:basics:MSX:]], [[:basics:bwbasic:]], [[:basics:bwbasic:bw32]], [[:basics:ABasiC:]], [[:basics:msqb:QBasic]], [[:basics:VBDOS:]], [[:basics:FreeBASIC:]], [[:basics:minibasicmm:]], [[:basics:minibasicjs:]]

**With variations:** [[:basics:Applesoft:tasc]] (contents not ignored if started with !)

**Also written as: **
  * ' (single quote) - Most Microsoft BASICs such as [[:basics:ms80basic]], [[:basics:msqb]], etc
  * ! - [[:basics:ansi:standard]], [[:basics:truebasic]]

===== Usage =====
/* This is a code block, using GeSHi syntax highlighting for //gwbasic//. Other styles of interest might be //basic4gl//, //blitzbasic//, //freebasic//, //gambas//, //locobasic//, //purebasic//, //qbasic//, //sdlbasic//, //thinbasic//, //vb//, //vbnet//, //xbasic// or //zxbasic//. */

<code gwbasic>
10 REM THIS IS A ONE-LINE COMMENT
20 ' THIS IS ALSO A COMMENT IN ALMOST EVERY BASIC
30 ! BUT THIS IS A COMMENT IN TRUEBASIC
</code>

In most if not all BASICs, //anything// after a REM statement will be ignored in the same line, so it is never a good idea to insert a colon and more instructions after a REM.


==== Variations ====

In the [[:basics:msqb:|QuickBASIC]] family, REM can be used for //meta-commands// related to matrices:
  * ''REM $STATIC'' declares all matrices as static
  * ''REM $DYNAMIC'' declares all matrices as dynamic

[[:basics:bwbasic|Bywater BASIC]] does **not** accept an abbreviation such as ' as of its version 2.20 .



===== Comments =====
REM, from "remark", is one of the original keywords of BASIC and it must have been implemented in every BASIC since.

Its abbreviated form as the apostrophe character (') dates back to [[:basics:dartmouth:dartmouth4|Dartmouth 4th Edition]], but strangely came from the same Dartmouth College the oddball idea to replace it with ''!'', something that made into the [[:basics:ansi:standard|ANSI "Full Basic" specification]] in one of its contradictions to the [[:basics:ansi:minimal|Minimal specification]]! As of February 2023, it seems that the ''!''abbreviation of REM had been implemented solely by Dartmouth chaps' [[:basics:truebasic:|TrueBASIC]].


===== Related keywords =====
/* Keywords that are often or always used along this one */

===== Similar keywords =====
/* Keywords with the same or similar functionality found in other versions of BASIC */

===== In other languages... =====

It is difficult to remember a modern language which uses a word-like statement for introducing single-line comments. Most of them use characters such as ''#'', %%//%%, '';'' and so on.

Apparently, the lack of block comments like C's ''/* ... */'' hasn't bothered BASIC implementors and users, as alternatives are very rare.



===== References =====
/* If you used the ((citation)) syntax elsewhere in the text, they will appear under this section. But you can write some recommendations of books, magazines, etc */

{{tag>Statements Comments Original}}