my $string = "--This is a comment\nNot a comment\n" .
    "--This Comment continues here\nNOT a comment";

##</code><code>##

my $string = "...";

$string =~ s/(^|\n)--[^\n]+//g;

print "No comments: $string\n";

##</code><code>##

my $string = "...";

$string =~ s/\n--[^\n]+//g;
$string =~ s/^--[^\n]+\n//;

print "No comments: $string\n";