diff --git a/lib/dictBuilder/zdict.c b/lib/dictBuilder/zdict.c
index ed53197a..6bc42526 100644
--- a/lib/dictBuilder/zdict.c
+++ b/lib/dictBuilder/zdict.c
@@ -361,11 +361,11 @@ static dictItem ZDICT_analyzePos(
 }
 
 
-/*! ZDICT_checkMerge
-    check if dictItem can be merged, do it if possible
-    @return : id of destination elt, 0 if not merged
-*/
-static U32 ZDICT_checkMerge(dictItem* table, dictItem elt, U32 eltNbToSkip)
+/*! ZDICT_tryMerge() :
+ *  check if dictItem can be merged, do it if possible
+ *  @return : id of destination elt, 0 if not merged
+ */
+static U32 ZDICT_tryMerge(dictItem* table, dictItem elt, U32 eltNbToSkip)
 {
     const U32 tableSize = table->pos;
     const U32 eltEnd = elt.pos + elt.length;
@@ -426,11 +426,11 @@ static void ZDICT_removeDictItem(dictItem* table, U32 id)
 static void ZDICT_insertDictItem(dictItem* table, U32 maxSize, dictItem elt)
 {
     /* merge if possible */
-    U32 mergeId = ZDICT_checkMerge(table, elt, 0);
-    if (mergeId) {
+    U32 mergeId = ZDICT_tryMerge(table, elt, 0);
+    if (mergeId) {  /* recursive : re-merge the newly merged elt */
         U32 newMerge = 1;
         while (newMerge) {
-            newMerge = ZDICT_checkMerge(table, table[mergeId], mergeId);
+            newMerge = ZDICT_tryMerge(table, table[mergeId], mergeId);  /* merge existing elt */
             if (newMerge) ZDICT_removeDictItem(table, mergeId);
             mergeId = newMerge;
         }
@@ -810,7 +810,6 @@ static size_t ZDICT_analyzeEntropy(void*  dstBuffer, size_t maxDstSize,
     MEM_writeLE32(dstPtr+4, repStartValue[1]);
     MEM_writeLE32(dstPtr+8, repStartValue[2]);
 #endif
-    //dstPtr += 12;
     eSize += 12;
 
 _cleanup:
@@ -829,7 +828,7 @@ size_t ZDICT_finalizeDictionary(void* dictBuffer, size_t dictBufferCapacity,
                           ZDICT_params_t params)
 {
     size_t hSize;
-#define HBUFFSIZE 256
+#define HBUFFSIZE 256   /* should prove large enough for all entropy headers */
     BYTE header[HBUFFSIZE];
     int const compressionLevel = (params.compressionLevel <= 0) ? g_compressionLevel_default : params.compressionLevel;
     U32 const notificationLevel = params.notificationLevel;
diff --git a/programs/zstd.1 b/programs/zstd.1
index 02423358..8b418a0e 100644
--- a/programs/zstd.1
+++ b/programs/zstd.1
@@ -168,11 +168,11 @@ use FILEs as training set to create a dictionary\. The training set should conta
 dictionary saved into \fBfile\fR (default: dictionary)
 .
 .TP
-\fB\-\-maxdict #\fR
+\fB\-\-maxdict=#\fR
 limit dictionary to specified size (default : (112640)
 .
 .TP
-\fB\-\-dictID #\fR
+\fB\-\-dictID=#\fR
 A dictionary ID is a locally unique ID that a decoder can use to verify it is using the right dictionary\. By default, zstd will create a 4\-bytes random number ID\. It\'s possible to give a precise number instead\. Short numbers have an advantage : an ID < 256 will only need 1 byte in the compressed frame header, and an ID < 65536 will only need 2 bytes\. This compares favorably to 4 bytes default\. However, it\'s up to the dictionary manager to not assign twice the same ID to 2 different dictionaries\.
 .
 .TP
diff --git a/programs/zstd.1.md b/programs/zstd.1.md
index c9ff3327..d1161a52 100644
--- a/programs/zstd.1.md
+++ b/programs/zstd.1.md
@@ -157,9 +157,9 @@ Typical gains range from 10% (at 64KB) to x5 better (at <1KB).
     (for example, 10 MB for a 100 KB dictionary).
 * `-o file`:
     dictionary saved into `file` (default: dictionary)
-* `--maxdict #`:
+* `--maxdict=#`:
     limit dictionary to specified size (default : (112640)
-* `--dictID #`:
+* `--dictID=#`:
     A dictionary ID is a locally unique ID that a decoder can use to verify it is
     using the right dictionary.
     By default, zstd will create a 4-bytes random number ID.
diff --git a/programs/zstdcli.c b/programs/zstdcli.c
index cd7ea193..e2709ec8 100644
--- a/programs/zstdcli.c
+++ b/programs/zstdcli.c
@@ -148,9 +148,9 @@ static int usage_advanced(const char* programName)
     DISPLAY( "--cover=k=#,d=# : use the cover algorithm with parameters k and d \n");
     DISPLAY( "--optimize-cover[=steps=#,k=#,d=#] : optimize cover parameters with optional parameters\n");
     DISPLAY( " -o file : `file` is dictionary name (default: %s) \n", g_defaultDictName);
-    DISPLAY( "--maxdict ## : limit dictionary to specified size (default : %u) \n", g_defaultMaxDictSize);
+    DISPLAY( "--maxdict=# : limit dictionary to specified size (default : %u) \n", g_defaultMaxDictSize);
     DISPLAY( " -s#    : dictionary selectivity level (default: %u)\n", g_defaultSelectivityLevel);
-    DISPLAY( "--dictID ## : force dictionary ID to specified value (default: random)\n");
+    DISPLAY( "--dictID=# : force dictionary ID to specified value (default: random)\n");
 #endif
 #ifndef ZSTD_NOBENCH
     DISPLAY( "\n");
@@ -385,8 +385,8 @@ int main(int argCount, const char* argv[])
                     if (!strcmp(argument, "--no-sparse")) { FIO_setSparseWrite(0); continue; }
                     if (!strcmp(argument, "--test")) { operation=zom_test; continue; }
                     if (!strcmp(argument, "--train")) { operation=zom_train; outFileName=g_defaultDictName; continue; }
-                    if (!strcmp(argument, "--maxdict")) { nextArgumentIsMaxDict=1; lastCommand=1; continue; }
-                    if (!strcmp(argument, "--dictID")) { nextArgumentIsDictID=1; lastCommand=1; continue; }
+                    if (!strcmp(argument, "--maxdict")) { nextArgumentIsMaxDict=1; lastCommand=1; continue; }  /* kept available for compatibility with old syntax ; will be removed one day */
+                    if (!strcmp(argument, "--dictID")) { nextArgumentIsDictID=1; lastCommand=1; continue; }  /* kept available for compatibility with old syntax ; will be removed one day */
                     if (!strcmp(argument, "--no-dictID")) { FIO_setDictIDFlag(0); continue; }
                     if (!strcmp(argument, "--keep")) { FIO_setRemoveSrcFile(0); continue; }
                     if (!strcmp(argument, "--rm")) { FIO_setRemoveSrcFile(1); continue; }
@@ -418,6 +418,8 @@ int main(int argCount, const char* argv[])
                     if (longCommandWArg(&argument, "--memory=")) { memLimit = readU32FromChar(&argument); continue; }
                     if (longCommandWArg(&argument, "--memlimit-decompress=")) { memLimit = readU32FromChar(&argument); continue; }
                     if (longCommandWArg(&argument, "--block-size=")) { blockSize = readU32FromChar(&argument); continue; }
+                    if (longCommandWArg(&argument, "--maxdict=")) { maxDictSize = readU32FromChar(&argument); continue; }
+                    if (longCommandWArg(&argument, "--dictID=")) { dictID = readU32FromChar(&argument); continue; }
                     if (longCommandWArg(&argument, "--zstd=")) { if (!parseCompressionParameters(argument, &compressionParams)) CLEAN_RETURN(badusage(programName)); continue; }
                     /* fall-through, will trigger bad_usage() later on */
                 }
@@ -547,14 +549,14 @@ int main(int argCount, const char* argv[])
                 continue;
             }   /* if (argument[0]=='-') */
 
-            if (nextArgumentIsMaxDict) {
+            if (nextArgumentIsMaxDict) {  /* kept available for compatibility with old syntax ; will be removed one day */
                 nextArgumentIsMaxDict = 0;
                 lastCommand = 0;
                 maxDictSize = readU32FromChar(&argument);
                 continue;
             }
 
-            if (nextArgumentIsDictID) {
+            if (nextArgumentIsDictID) {  /* kept available for compatibility with old syntax ; will be removed one day */
                 nextArgumentIsDictID = 0;
                 lastCommand = 0;
                 dictID = readU32FromChar(&argument);
diff --git a/tests/playTests.sh b/tests/playTests.sh
index 897a9015..5abbb14e 100755
--- a/tests/playTests.sh
+++ b/tests/playTests.sh
@@ -253,12 +253,12 @@ $ECHO "- Create second (different) dictionary "
 $ZSTD --train *.c ../programs/*.c ../programs/*.h -o tmpDictC
 $ZSTD -d tmp.zst -D tmpDictC -fo result && die "wrong dictionary not detected!"
 $ECHO "- Create dictionary with short dictID"
-$ZSTD --train *.c ../programs/*.c --dictID 1 -o tmpDict1
+$ZSTD --train *.c ../programs/*.c --dictID=1 -o tmpDict1
 cmp tmpDict tmpDict1 && die "dictionaries should have different ID !"
 $ECHO "- Create dictionary with wrong dictID parameter order (must fail)"
 $ZSTD --train *.c ../programs/*.c --dictID -o 1 tmpDict1 && die "wrong order : --dictID must be followed by argument "
 $ECHO "- Create dictionary with size limit"
-$ZSTD --train *.c ../programs/*.c -o tmpDict2 --maxdict 4K -v
+$ZSTD --train *.c ../programs/*.c -o tmpDict2 --maxdict=4K -v
 $ECHO "- Create dictionary with wrong parameter order (must fail)"
 $ZSTD --train *.c ../programs/*.c -o tmpDict2 --maxdict -v 4K && die "wrong order : --maxdict must be followed by argument "
 $ECHO "- Compress without dictID"
@@ -303,10 +303,10 @@ $ECHO "- Create second (different) dictionary"
 $ZSTD --train --cover=k=56,d=8 *.c ../programs/*.c ../programs/*.h -o tmpDictC
 $ZSTD -d tmp.zst -D tmpDictC -fo result && die "wrong dictionary not detected!"
 $ECHO "- Create dictionary with short dictID"
-$ZSTD --train --cover=k=46,d=8 *.c ../programs/*.c --dictID 1 -o tmpDict1
+$ZSTD --train --cover=k=46,d=8 *.c ../programs/*.c --dictID=1 -o tmpDict1
 cmp tmpDict tmpDict1 && die "dictionaries should have different ID !"
 $ECHO "- Create dictionary with size limit"
-$ZSTD --train --optimize-cover=steps=8 *.c ../programs/*.c -o tmpDict2 --maxdict 4K
+$ZSTD --train --optimize-cover=steps=8 *.c ../programs/*.c -o tmpDict2 --maxdict=4K
 rm tmp*