diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6b9fb8c..54205a1 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -31,14 +31,15 @@ void print_commits_info(const char *username, const char *repo) {
     char output_filename[] = "commits.json";
     
     /* it ain't pretty, but it's not a libcurl tutorial */
-    sprintf(curl_command, "curl -s \"https://api.github.com/repos/%s/%s/commits\"\
-            > %s", username, repo, output_filename);
+    sprintf(curl_command, 
+        "curl -s \"https://api.github.com/repos/%s/%s/commits\" > %s",
+        username, repo, output_filename);
     sprintf(cleanup_command, "rm -f %s", output_filename);
     system(curl_command);
     
     /* parsing json and validating output */
     root_value = json_parse_file(output_filename);
-    if (root_value == NULL || json_value_get_type(root_value) != JSONArray) {
+    if (json_value_get_type(root_value) != JSONArray) {
         system(cleanup_command);
         return;
     }
diff --git a/parson.c b/parson.c
index 1769a77..2596023 100644
--- a/parson.c
+++ b/parson.c
@@ -511,11 +511,8 @@ JSON_Value * json_parse_file(const char *filename) {
 }
 
 JSON_Value * json_parse_string(const char *string) {
-    if (string && (*string == '{' || *string == '[')) {
-        return parse_value((const char**)&string, 0);
-    } else {
-        return NULL;
-    }
+    if (!string || (*string != '{' && *string != '[')) { return NULL; }
+    return parse_value((const char**)&string, 0);
 }
 
 /* JSON Object API */
diff --git a/tests.c b/tests.c
index 53bf0a5..a65b709 100644
--- a/tests.c
+++ b/tests.c
@@ -180,14 +180,15 @@ void print_commits_info(const char *username, const char *repo) {
     char output_filename[] = "commits.json";
     
     /* it ain't pretty, but it's not a libcurl tutorial */
-    sprintf(curl_command, "curl -s \"https://api.github.com/repos/%s/%s/commits\"\
-            > %s", username, repo, output_filename);
+    sprintf(curl_command, 
+        "curl -s \"https://api.github.com/repos/%s/%s/commits\" > %s",
+        username, repo, output_filename);
     sprintf(cleanup_command, "rm -f %s", output_filename);
     system(curl_command);
     
     /* parsing json and validating output */
     root_value = json_parse_file(output_filename);
-    if (root_value == NULL || json_value_get_type(root_value) != JSONArray) {
+    if (json_value_get_type(root_value) != JSONArray) {
         system(cleanup_command);
         return;
     }