diff --git a/Surface_mesh_approximation/examples/Surface_mesh_approximation/vsa_class_interface_example.cpp b/Surface_mesh_approximation/examples/Surface_mesh_approximation/vsa_class_interface_example.cpp
index 73892bc8057..cd56c31e8de 100644
--- a/Surface_mesh_approximation/examples/Surface_mesh_approximation/vsa_class_interface_example.cpp
+++ b/Surface_mesh_approximation/examples/Surface_mesh_approximation/vsa_class_interface_example.cpp
@@ -12,9 +12,12 @@ typedef CGAL::Exact_predicates_inexact_constructions_kernel Kernel;
 typedef CGAL::Polyhedron_3<Kernel> Polyhedron;
 typedef boost::property_map<Polyhedron, boost::vertex_point_t>::type VertexPointMap;
 
-typedef CGAL::VSA_approximation<Polyhedron, VertexPointMap> L21VSA;
-typedef L21VSA::ErrorMetric L21Metric;
-typedef L21VSA::ProxyFitting L21ProxyFitting;
+
+typedef CGAL::VSA_approximation<Polyhedron, VertexPointMap> VSA;
+
+// default L21 metric 
+typedef VSA::ErrorMetric L21_metric;
+typedef VSA::ProxyFitting L21_proxy_fitting;
 
 int main()
 {
@@ -26,7 +29,7 @@ int main()
     return EXIT_FAILURE;
   }
 
-  // create VSA L21 metric approximation algorithm instance
+  // create VSA approximation algorithm instance
   L21VSA l21_approx(input,
     get(boost::vertex_point, const_cast<Polyhedron &>(input)));
 
@@ -53,7 +56,7 @@ int main()
   for (std::size_t i = 0; i < 10; ++i)
     l21_approx.run_one_step();
 
-  // extract the approximation polyhedron
+  // mesh and output final polyhedral surface
   Polyhedron output;
   l21_approx.meshing(output);
 
diff --git a/Surface_mesh_approximation/include/CGAL/vsa_approximation.h b/Surface_mesh_approximation/include/CGAL/vsa_approximation.h
index 46b11bb2a1d..359d4059b5b 100644
--- a/Surface_mesh_approximation/include/CGAL/vsa_approximation.h
+++ b/Surface_mesh_approximation/include/CGAL/vsa_approximation.h
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ public:
   /*!
    * Set the mesh for approximation and rebuild the internal data structure.
    * @pre @a _mesh.is_pure_triangle()
-   * @param _mesh `CGAL TriangleMesh` on which approximation operate.
+   * @param _mesh `CGAL TriangleMesh` on which approximation operates.
    * @param _point_pmap vertex point map of the mesh
    */
   void set_mesh(const TriangleMesh &_mesh, const VertexPointMap &_point_pmap) {
@@ -310,6 +310,8 @@ public:
    * Rebuild the internal data structure.
    */
   void rebuild() {
+
+	// cleanup
     proxies.clear();
     px_planes.clear();
     anchors.clear();
@@ -318,7 +320,8 @@ public:
 
     if (!m_pmesh)
       return;
-    // rebuild inter data structure
+
+    // rebuild internal data structure
     internal_fidx_map.clear();
     BOOST_FOREACH(face_descriptor f, faces(*m_pmesh))
       internal_fidx_map[f] = 0;
diff --git a/Surface_mesh_approximation/include/CGAL/vsa_mesh_approximation.h b/Surface_mesh_approximation/include/CGAL/vsa_mesh_approximation.h
index 5f46155999f..a68d4c59de6 100644
--- a/Surface_mesh_approximation/include/CGAL/vsa_mesh_approximation.h
+++ b/Surface_mesh_approximation/include/CGAL/vsa_mesh_approximation.h
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ bool vsa_mesh_approximation(const TriangleMesh &tm_in,
   get_proxy_map(vsa_l21, fproxymap);
 
   FT split_criterion = choose_param(get_param(np, internal_np::chord_subdivide), FT(1));
-  bool is_manifold = vsa_l21.meshing(tm_out, split_criterion);
+  const bool is_manifold = vsa_l21.meshing(tm_out, split_criterion);
 
   typedef typename boost::lookup_named_param_def<
     internal_np::anchor_vertex_t,