Try this:
#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;use warnings;
while (my $line=<DATA>) {
$line=~s/(?<!\\)#.*//;
print $line;
}
__DATA__
\#Not a comment
#Comment
\#Not a comment #But this is a comment
arbitrary text #Comment
arbitrary text \#Not a comment
arbitrary text \#Not a comment #But this is a comment
arbitrary text #Comment \#This is part of the comment
Prints:
\#Not a comment
\#Not a comment
arbitrary text
arbitrary text \#Not a comment
arbitrary text \#Not a comment
arbitrary text
The '(?<!' construct looks backward to ensure that the escape character is not preceeding the comment character.
