diff --git a/examples/bindataformpost/bindataformpost.zig b/examples/bindataformpost/bindataformpost.zig
index 0406c58..20b826a 100644
--- a/examples/bindataformpost/bindataformpost.zig
+++ b/examples/bindataformpost/bindataformpost.zig
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ const Handler = struct {
     var alloc: std.mem.Allocator = undefined;
 
     pub fn on_request(r: zap.Request) void {
-        // check for FORM parameters
+        // parse for FORM (body) parameters first
         r.parseBody() catch |err| {
             std.log.err("Parse Body error: {any}. Expected if body is empty", .{err});
         };
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ const Handler = struct {
         if (r.body) |body| {
             std.log.info("Body length is {any}\n", .{body.len});
         }
-        // check for query params (for ?terminate=true)
+
+        // parse potential query params (for ?terminate=true)
         r.parseQuery();
 
         const param_count = r.getParamCount();
@@ -56,8 +57,11 @@ const Handler = struct {
                     else => {
                         // might be a string param, we don't care
                         // let's just get it as string
+                        // always_alloc param = false -> the string will be a slice from the request buffer
+                        // --> no deinit necessary
                         if (r.getParamStr(Handler.alloc, kv.key.str, false)) |maybe_str| {
                             const value: []const u8 = if (maybe_str) |s| s.str else "(no value)";
+                            // above, we didn't defer s.deinit because the string is just a slice from the request buffer
                             std.log.debug("   {s} = {s}", .{ kv.key.str, value });
                         } else |err| {
                             std.log.err("Error: {any}\n", .{err});
@@ -70,7 +74,6 @@ const Handler = struct {
         // check if we received a terminate=true parameter
         if (r.getParamStr(Handler.alloc, "terminate", false)) |maybe_str| {
             if (maybe_str) |*s| {
-                defer s.deinit();
                 std.log.info("?terminate={s}\n", .{s.str});
                 if (std.mem.eql(u8, s.str, "true")) {
                     zap.stop();
diff --git a/examples/cookies/cookies.zig b/examples/cookies/cookies.zig
index d80cafc..ed7268b 100644
--- a/examples/cookies/cookies.zig
+++ b/examples/cookies/cookies.zig
@@ -37,17 +37,19 @@ pub fn main() !void {
             std.debug.print("\n=====================================================\n", .{});
             defer std.debug.print("=====================================================\n\n", .{});
 
-            r.parseCookies(false);
+            r.parseCookies(false); // url_encoded = false
 
             const cookie_count = r.getCookiesCount();
             std.log.info("cookie_count: {}", .{cookie_count});
 
-            // iterate over all cookies as strings
+            // iterate over all cookies as strings (always_alloc=false)
             var strCookies = r.cookiesToOwnedStrList(alloc, false) catch unreachable;
             defer strCookies.deinit();
             std.debug.print("\n", .{});
             for (strCookies.items) |kv| {
                 std.log.info("CookieStr `{s}` is `{s}`", .{ kv.key.str, kv.value.str });
+                // we don't need to deinit kv.key and kv.value because we requested always_alloc=false
+                // so they are just slices into the request buffer
             }
 
             std.debug.print("\n", .{});
@@ -63,7 +65,7 @@ pub fn main() !void {
             std.debug.print("\n", .{});
             if (r.getCookieStr(alloc, "ZIG_ZAP", false)) |maybe_str| {
                 if (maybe_str) |*s| {
-                    defer s.deinit();
+                    defer s.deinit(); // unnecessary because always_alloc=false
 
                     std.log.info("Cookie ZIG_ZAP = {s}", .{s.str});
                 } else {
diff --git a/examples/endpoint/main.zig b/examples/endpoint/main.zig
index fcc63c3..cbb74b3 100644
--- a/examples/endpoint/main.zig
+++ b/examples/endpoint/main.zig
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ const zap = @import("zap");
 const UserWeb = @import("userweb.zig");
 const StopEndpoint = @import("stopendpoint.zig");
 
-// this is just to demo that we can catch arbitrary slugs
+// this is just to demo that we can catch arbitrary slugs as fallback
 fn on_request(r: zap.Request) void {
     if (r.path) |the_path| {
         std.debug.print("REQUESTED PATH: {s}\n", .{the_path});
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ pub fn main() !void {
 
         // and run
         zap.start(.{
-            .threads = 2000,
+            .threads = 2,
             // IMPORTANT! It is crucial to only have a single worker for this example to work!
             // Multiple workers would have multiple copies of the users hashmap.
             //