#function to remove comments

def remove_comments(string, lang):
    if lang == 'Python':
        pattern = "('''[\s\S]*''')|(''[\s\S]*''')"
    else:
        pattern = '\/\*[\s\S]*\*\/'
    string = re.sub(pattern, '', string)
    return string

#regex pattern to search for non empty blocks/cells
pattern = '[^\s\xa0�]'