1.  The length of comments will vary depending on the situation.  At a bare
    minimum, they should be verbose enough to explain the code you are 
    commenting.  For example,

    /* calls mysql_query */
    $rc = mysql_query( "select * from hiking" );

    is not acceptable because it is not descriptive.  But this is:

    /* Gets all the hiking data from the database */
    $rc = mysql_query( "select * from hiking" );

    On the other hand, comments should not be too verbose.  For example:

    /* 
     * We are submitting a query to the database to get all the hiking data 
     * using the PHP function mysql_query.  mysql_query takes as its argument
     * a string that contains a MySQL query.  In this case, we are submitting
     * a select statement which is of the form:
     *       select attributes
     *       from table-name
     *       where something-is-true
     * In this case attributes is '*' because we are getting all data from the
     * table.  Our table-name is hiking which is a table of SAMP_DB.  We have
     * no where clause because we want all data.  Finally a result id is 
     * returned back to the variable $rc which is short for 'return code'.  This
     * result id can then be accessed to find out a how many rows were
     * returned and the contents of the rows 
     */
    $rc = mysql_query( "select * from hiking" );

    For the purpose of this assignment, all your comments can be 5 lines or 
    less.

2.  Each function given to you should have a header comment.  Comments inside
    the function are not required but will boost your grade if you have them.

    The header comment should contain a brief explanation of what the function
    does.  If the function returns a value, there should be a brief explanation
    explaining under what conditions a value is returned.  For example, for the
    connect_db function, you should have something like the following:

    /* 
     * Sets up a connection to $db.  If successful, $SUCCESS is returned.  If
     * there is a failure, the cause is printed to the screen and $FAILURE is
     * returned. 
     */
    function connect_db( $db )

3.  Each file should have a header comment explaining its purpose.  For example:

    <? 

      /* 
       * globals.php3
       *
       * Contains a list of global variables that will be used to access the
       * database and defines a success and failure value
       */

       .
       .
       .
    ?>