$data =~ s{                 # First, we'll list things we want 
                            # to match, but not throw away
  (
    [^"'/]+                                # other stuff
    |                                      # -or-
    (?:"[^"\\]*(?:\\.[^"\\]*)*" [^"'/]*)+  # double quoted string
    |                                      # -or-
    (?:'[^'\\]*(?:\\.[^'\\]*)*' [^"'/]*)+  # single quoted constant
  )
    
  |
   
  # or we'll match a comment. Since it's not in the
  # $1 parentheses above, the comments will disappear
  # when we use $1 as the replacement text.
  
    /                       # (all comments start with a slash)
    (?:                           
    \*[^*]*\*+(?:[^/*][^*]*\*+)*/ # traditional C comments
    |                             # -or-
    /[^\n]*                       # C++ //-style comments
    )
      
}{$1}gsx;