diff --git a/src/std/str.md b/src/std/str.md
index a771d0613a..9f4d7105e1 100644
--- a/src/std/str.md
+++ b/src/std/str.md
@@ -112,42 +112,42 @@ fn main() {
 }
 ```
 
-Want a string that's not UTF-8? (Remember, `str` and `String` must be valid UTF-8)
+Want a string that's not UTF-8? (Remember, `str` and `String` must be valid UTF-8).
 Or maybe you want an array of bytes that's mostly text? Byte strings to the rescue!
 
 ```rust, editable
 use std::str;
 
 fn main() {
-    // Note that this is not actually a &str
-    let bytestring: &[u8; 20] = b"this is a bytestring";
+    // Note that this is not actually a `&str`
+    let bytestring: &[u8; 21] = b"this is a byte string";
 
-    // Byte arrays don't have Display so printing them is a bit limited
-    println!("A bytestring: {:?}", bytestring);
+    // Byte arrays don't have the `Display` trait, so printing them is a bit limited
+    println!("A byte string: {:?}", bytestring);
 
-    // Bytestrings can have byte escapes...
+    // Byte strings can have byte escapes...
     let escaped = b"\x52\x75\x73\x74 as bytes";
     // ...but no unicode escapes
     // let escaped = b"\u{211D} is not allowed";
     println!("Some escaped bytes: {:?}", escaped);
 
 
-    // Raw bytestrings work just like raw strings
+    // Raw byte strings work just like raw strings
     let raw_bytestring = br"\u{211D} is not escaped here";
     println!("{:?}", raw_bytestring);
 
-    // Converting a byte array to str can fail
+    // Converting a byte array to `str` can fail
     if let Ok(my_str) = str::from_utf8(raw_bytestring) {
         println!("And the same as text: '{}'", my_str);
     }
 
-    let quotes = br#"You can also use "fancier" formatting, \
+    let _quotes = br#"You can also use "fancier" formatting, \
                     like with normal raw strings"#;
 
-    // Bytestrings don't have to be UTF-8
+    // Byte strings don't have to be UTF-8
     let shift_jis = b"\x82\xe6\x82\xa8\x82\xb1\x82"; // "ようこそ" in SHIFT-JIS
 
-    // But then they can't always be converted to str
+    // But then they can't always be converted to `str`
     match str::from_utf8(shift_jis) {
         Ok(my_str) => println!("Conversion successful: '{}'", my_str),
         Err(e) => println!("Conversion failed: {:?}", e),