File::Comments guesses the type of a given file, determines the format used for comments, extracts all comments, and returns them as a reference to an array of chunks. Alternatively, it strips all comments from a file.

Currently supported are Perl scripts, C/C++ programs, Java, makefiles, JavaScript, Python and PHP.

The plugin architecture used by File::Comments makes it easy to add new formats. To support a new format, a new plugin module has to be installed. No modifications to the File::Comments codebase are necessary, new plugins will be picked up automatically.

File::Comments can also be used to simply guess a file's type. It it
somewhat more flexible than File::MMagic and File::Type. File types in File::Comments are typically based on file name suffixes (*.c, *.pl, etc.). If no suffix is available, or a given suffix is ambiguous (e.g. if several plugins have registered a handler for the same suffix), then the file's content is used to narrow down the possibilities and arrive at a decision.