How does the pass statement differ from comments in Python?

The key difference between the pass statement and comments in Python is that pass is executable, whereas comments are not. The pass statement does nothing when executed but is still a valid statement in the Python syntax. Comments, on the other hand, are ignored by the Python interpreter and serve only as annotations for developers.

# This is a comment and will be ignored by Python
pass  # This does nothing but is executed as part of the program

While comments are used to document code and provide explanations or notes, the pass statement is used when a syntactical statement is required but no action needs to be taken.

Understanding the difference between pass and comments helps you use them appropriately to structure your code and provide clear documentation where needed.