question: private static String stripComments ( String str ) { if ( str == null ) return "" ; String s = str . trim ( ) ; while ( s . startsWith ( "/*" ) ) { int idx = s . indexOf ( "*/" ) ; if ( idx < 0 ) return s ; s = s . substring ( idx + 2 ) ; if ( s == null ) return s ; else s = s . trim ( ) ; } return s ; }
target:  Remove leading comments only