diff --git a/repl/main.c b/repl/main.c
index a44eeda..cffd394 100644
--- a/repl/main.c
+++ b/repl/main.c
@@ -262,5 +262,3 @@ int main(int argc, const char* argv[]) {
 
 	return 0;
 }
-
-//TODO: simple and consistent way to print an AST and Toy_Value
diff --git a/source/makefile b/source/makefile
index e008fed..949fdf3 100644
--- a/source/makefile
+++ b/source/makefile
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ SRC_SOURCEFILES=$(wildcard $(SRC_SOURCEDIR)/*.c)
 SRC_OBJFILES=$(addprefix $(SRC_OBJDIR)/,$(notdir $(SRC_SOURCEFILES:.c=.o)))
 SRC_TARGETNAME=Toy
 
-#TODO: fix windows & macos
 #SRC_LIBLINE is a fancy way of making the linker work correctly
 ifeq ($(shell uname),Linux)
 	SRC_TARGETEXT=.so
diff --git a/source/toy_ast.c b/source/toy_ast.c
index 266cf60..ce089fc 100644
--- a/source/toy_ast.c
+++ b/source/toy_ast.c
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ void Toy_private_emitAstValue(Toy_Bucket** bucket, Toy_Ast** handle, Toy_Value v
 	(*handle) = tmp;
 }
 
-//TODO: flag range checks
 void Toy_private_emitAstUnary(Toy_Bucket** bucket, Toy_Ast** handle, Toy_AstFlag flag) {
 	Toy_Ast* tmp = (Toy_Ast*)Toy_partitionBucket(bucket, sizeof(Toy_Ast));
 
diff --git a/source/toy_routine.c b/source/toy_routine.c
index b73f2e1..f876cbb 100644
--- a/source/toy_routine.c
+++ b/source/toy_routine.c
@@ -167,12 +167,7 @@ static void writeInstructionBinary(Toy_Routine** rt, Toy_AstBinary ast) {
 	}
 	else if (ast.flag == TOY_AST_FLAG_COMPARE_NOT) {
 		EMIT_BYTE(rt, TOY_OPCODE_COMPARE_EQUAL);
-		EMIT_BYTE(rt, 0);
-		EMIT_BYTE(rt, 0);
-		EMIT_BYTE(rt, 0);
-
-		EMIT_BYTE(rt, TOY_OPCODE_NEGATE); //TODO: squeeze these into one word
-		EMIT_BYTE(rt, 0);
+		EMIT_BYTE(rt, TOY_OPCODE_NEGATE); //squeezed into one word
 		EMIT_BYTE(rt, 0);
 		EMIT_BYTE(rt, 0);
 
diff --git a/source/toy_string.c b/source/toy_string.c
index c62406b..19f5d2f 100644
--- a/source/toy_string.c
+++ b/source/toy_string.c
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ Toy_String* Toy_deepCopyString(Toy_Bucket** bucket, Toy_String* str) {
 	}
 	Toy_String* ret = (Toy_String*)Toy_partitionBucket(bucket, sizeof(Toy_String) + str->length + 1); //TODO: compensate for partitioning more space than bucket capacity
 
-	//TODO
+	//
 	ret->type = TOY_STRING_LEAF;
 	ret->length = str->length;
 	ret->refCount = 1;
diff --git a/source/toy_vm.c b/source/toy_vm.c
index 60384c3..10c5403 100644
--- a/source/toy_vm.c
+++ b/source/toy_vm.c
@@ -165,7 +165,16 @@ static void processComparison(Toy_VM* vm, Toy_OpcodeType opcode) {
 
 	//most things can be equal, so handle it separately
 	if (opcode == TOY_OPCODE_COMPARE_EQUAL) {
-		Toy_pushStack(&vm->stack, TOY_VALUE_TO_BOOLEAN(TOY_VALUE_IS_EQUAL(left, right)) );
+		bool equal = TOY_VALUE_IS_EQUAL(left, right);
+
+		//equality has an optional "negate" opcode within it's word
+		if (READ_BYTE(vm) != TOY_OPCODE_NEGATE) {
+			Toy_pushStack(&vm->stack, TOY_VALUE_TO_BOOLEAN(equal) );
+		}
+		else {
+			Toy_pushStack(&vm->stack, TOY_VALUE_TO_BOOLEAN(!equal) );
+		}
+
 		return;
 	}
 
@@ -254,7 +263,7 @@ static void process(Toy_VM* vm) {
 			case TOY_OPCODE_AND:
 			case TOY_OPCODE_OR:
 			case TOY_OPCODE_TRUTHY:
-			case TOY_OPCODE_NEGATE: //TODO: squeeze into !=
+			case TOY_OPCODE_NEGATE:
 				processLogical(vm, opcode);
 				break;
 
diff --git a/tests/cases/test_routine.c b/tests/cases/test_routine.c
index 76fca12..7b8093c 100644
--- a/tests/cases/test_routine.c
+++ b/tests/cases/test_routine.c
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ int test_routine_header_and_values(Toy_Bucket** bucket) {
 }
 
 // int test_routine_unary(Toy_Bucket** bucket) {
-// 	//TODO: Nothing produces a unary instruction yet
+// 	//Nothing produces a unary instruction yet
 // }
 
 int test_routine_binary(Toy_Bucket** bucket) {
@@ -476,7 +476,7 @@ int test_routine_binary(Toy_Bucket** bucket) {
 		//check header
 		int* ptr = (int*)buffer;
 
-		if ((ptr++)[0] != 52 || //total size
+		if ((ptr++)[0] != 48 || //total size
 			(ptr++)[0] != 0 || //param count
 			(ptr++)[0] != 0 || //jump count
 			(ptr++)[0] != 0 || //data count
@@ -503,19 +503,14 @@ int test_routine_binary(Toy_Bucket** bucket) {
 			*(int*)(buffer + 36) != 5 ||
 
 			*((unsigned char*)(buffer + 40)) != TOY_OPCODE_COMPARE_EQUAL ||
-			*((unsigned char*)(buffer + 41)) != 0 ||
+			*((unsigned char*)(buffer + 41)) != TOY_OPCODE_NEGATE ||
 			*((unsigned char*)(buffer + 42)) != 0 ||
 			*((unsigned char*)(buffer + 43)) != 0 ||
 
-			*((unsigned char*)(buffer + 44)) != TOY_OPCODE_NEGATE ||
+			*((unsigned char*)(buffer + 44)) != TOY_OPCODE_RETURN ||
 			*((unsigned char*)(buffer + 45)) != 0 ||
 			*((unsigned char*)(buffer + 46)) != 0 ||
-			*((unsigned char*)(buffer + 47)) != 0 ||
-
-			*((unsigned char*)(buffer + 48)) != TOY_OPCODE_RETURN ||
-			*((unsigned char*)(buffer + 49)) != 0 ||
-			*((unsigned char*)(buffer + 50)) != 0 ||
-			*((unsigned char*)(buffer + 51)) != 0
+			*((unsigned char*)(buffer + 47)) != 0
 		)
 		{
 			fprintf(stderr, TOY_CC_ERROR "ERROR: failed to produce the expected routine code, source: %s\n" TOY_CC_RESET, source);
diff --git a/tests/cases/test_vm.c b/tests/cases/test_vm.c
index a8e7893..5e08456 100644
--- a/tests/cases/test_vm.c
+++ b/tests/cases/test_vm.c
@@ -73,9 +73,8 @@ int test_setup_and_teardown(Toy_Bucket** bucket) {
 	return 0;
 }
 
-//tests
 int test_simple_execution(Toy_Bucket** bucket) {
-	//basic init & quit
+	//test execution
 	{
 		//generate bytecode for testing
 		const char* source = "(1 + 2) * (3 + 4);";
@@ -104,7 +103,51 @@ int test_simple_execution(Toy_Bucket** bucket) {
 			TOY_VALUE_AS_INTEGER( Toy_peekStack(&vm.stack) ) != 21
 		)
 		{
-			fprintf(stderr, TOY_CC_ERROR "ERROR: failed run the Toy_VM, source: %s\n" TOY_CC_RESET, source);
+			fprintf(stderr, TOY_CC_ERROR "ERROR: Unexpected result in 'Toy_VM', source: %s\n" TOY_CC_RESET, source);
+
+			//cleanup and return
+			Toy_freeVM(&vm);
+			return -1;
+		}
+
+		//teadown
+		Toy_freeVM(&vm);
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+int test_opcode_not_equal(Toy_Bucket** bucket) {
+	//testing a specific opcode; '!=' is compressed into a single word, so lets check it works
+	{
+		//generate bytecode for testing
+		const char* source = "3 != 5;";
+
+		Toy_Lexer lexer;
+		Toy_bindLexer(&lexer, source);
+
+		Toy_Parser parser;
+		Toy_bindParser(&parser, &lexer);
+
+		Toy_Ast* ast = Toy_scanParser(bucket, &parser);
+
+		Toy_Bytecode bc = Toy_compileBytecode(ast);
+
+		//run the setup
+		Toy_VM vm;
+		Toy_bindVM(&vm, bc.ptr, bc.capacity);
+
+		//run
+		Toy_runVM(&vm);
+
+		//check the final state of the stack
+		if (vm.stack == NULL ||
+			vm.stack->count != 1 ||
+			TOY_VALUE_IS_BOOLEAN( Toy_peekStack(&vm.stack) ) != true ||
+			TOY_VALUE_AS_BOOLEAN( Toy_peekStack(&vm.stack) ) != true
+		)
+		{
+			fprintf(stderr, TOY_CC_ERROR "ERROR: Unexpected result in 'Toy_VM', source: %s\n" TOY_CC_RESET, source);
 
 			//cleanup and return
 			Toy_freeVM(&vm);
@@ -142,5 +185,15 @@ int main() {
 		total += res;
 	}
 
+	{
+		Toy_Bucket* bucket = Toy_allocateBucket(sizeof(Toy_Ast) * 32);
+		res = test_opcode_not_equal(&bucket);
+		Toy_freeBucket(&bucket);
+		if (res == 0) {
+			printf(TOY_CC_NOTICE "All good\n" TOY_CC_RESET);
+		}
+		total += res;
+	}
+
 	return total;
 }