def get_lines(path, remove_comments=True):
    """Returns the lines in a C/C++ header file that are not empty.
     
    Also strips the whitespace from each line and can optionally remove 
    the comments.

    Parameters
    ----------
    path : :class:`str`
        The path to a C/C++ header file.
    remove_comments : :class:`bool`, optional
        Whether to remove the comments.

    Returns
    -------
    :class:`list` of :class:`str`
        The list of lines in the header file.
    """
    lines = []
    with open(path, 'r') as fp:
        for line in fp.readlines():
            line_strip = line.strip()
            if not line_strip:
                continue
            if remove_comments:
                if line_strip.startswith('/') or line_strip.startswith('*'):
                    continue
                line_strip = line_strip.split('/')[0].strip()
            lines.append(line_strip)
    return lines