diff --git a/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/support/AbstractBeanFactory.java b/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/support/AbstractBeanFactory.java
index 8a0956d8f0e..ec5356e6a79 100644
--- a/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/support/AbstractBeanFactory.java
+++ b/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/support/AbstractBeanFactory.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2020 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2021 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -350,7 +350,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractBeanFactory extends FactoryBeanRegistrySupport imp
 				else {
 					String scopeName = mbd.getScope();
 					if (!StringUtils.hasLength(scopeName)) {
-						throw new IllegalStateException("No scope name defined for bean ´" + beanName + "'");
+						throw new IllegalStateException("No scope name defined for bean '" + beanName + "'");
 					}
 					Scope scope = this.scopes.get(scopeName);
 					if (scope == null) {
diff --git a/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/BeanResolver.java b/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/BeanResolver.java
index eabeb9f495b..7530c36f6ee 100644
--- a/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/BeanResolver.java
+++ b/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/BeanResolver.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2018 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2021 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ package org.springframework.expression;
 /**
  * A bean resolver can be registered with the evaluation context and will kick in
  * for bean references: {@code @myBeanName} and {@code &myBeanName} expressions.
- * The <tt>&</tt> variant syntax allows access to the factory bean where relevant.
+ * The {@code &} variant syntax allows access to the factory bean where relevant.
  *
  * @author Andy Clement
  * @since 3.0.3
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ public interface BeanResolver {
 
 	/**
 	 * Look up a bean by the given name and return a corresponding instance for it.
-	 * For attempting access to a factory bean, the name needs a <tt>&</tt> prefix.
+	 * For attempting access to a factory bean, the name needs a {@code &} prefix.
 	 * @param context the current evaluation context
 	 * @param beanName the name of the bean to look up
 	 * @return an object representing the bean
diff --git a/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/TypeComparator.java b/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/TypeComparator.java
index 7696cd7f6dc..88d07d39fb8 100644
--- a/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/TypeComparator.java
+++ b/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/TypeComparator.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2017 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2021 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -40,10 +40,11 @@ public interface TypeComparator {
 	 * Compare two given objects.
 	 * @param firstObject the first object
 	 * @param secondObject the second object
-	 * @return 0 if they are equal, <0 if the first is smaller than the second,
-	 * or >0 if the first is larger than the second
+	 * @return 0 if they are equal, a negative integer if the first is smaller than
+	 * the second, or a positive integer if the first is larger than the second
 	 * @throws EvaluationException if a problem occurs during comparison
 	 * (or if they are not comparable in the first place)
+	 * @see Comparable#compareTo
 	 */
 	int compare(@Nullable Object firstObject, @Nullable Object secondObject) throws EvaluationException;
 
diff --git a/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/ast/BeanReference.java b/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/ast/BeanReference.java
index a59d98250fb..5f1d2adeb31 100644
--- a/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/ast/BeanReference.java
+++ b/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/ast/BeanReference.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2019 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2021 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ import org.springframework.expression.spel.SpelEvaluationException;
 import org.springframework.expression.spel.SpelMessage;
 
 /**
- * Represents a bean reference to a type, for example <tt>@foo</tt> or <tt>@'foo.bar'</tt>.
- * For a FactoryBean the syntax <tt>&foo</tt> can be used to access the factory itself.
+ * Represents a bean reference to a type, for example {@code @foo} or {@code @'foo.bar'}.
+ * For a FactoryBean the syntax {@code &foo} can be used to access the factory itself.
  *
  * @author Andy Clement
  */
@@ -64,13 +64,13 @@ public class BeanReference extends SpelNodeImpl {
 	public String toStringAST() {
 		StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
 		if (!this.beanName.startsWith(FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX)) {
-			sb.append("@");
+			sb.append('@');
 		}
 		if (!this.beanName.contains(".")) {
 			sb.append(this.beanName);
 		}
 		else {
-			sb.append("'").append(this.beanName).append("'");
+			sb.append('\'').append(this.beanName).append('\'');
 		}
 		return sb.toString();
 	}