diff --git a/java/100_aggregation_pipeline_match.ipynb b/java/100_aggregation_pipeline_match.ipynb
index 17b3e46..1090300 100644
--- a/java/100_aggregation_pipeline_match.ipynb
+++ b/java/100_aggregation_pipeline_match.ipynb
@@ -43,18 +43,19 @@
     "import com.mongodb.client.MongoClients;\n",
     "import com.mongodb.client.MongoDatabase;\n",
     "import com.mongodb.client.MongoCollection;\n",
-    "import com.mongodb.client.FindIterable;\n",
     "import com.mongodb.client.AggregateIterable;\n",
     "\n",
     "import com.mongodb.client.model.Projections;\n",
-    "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Filters.gte;\n",
-    "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Filters.and;\n",
     "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Filters.gt;\n",
     "\n",
     "import com.mongodb.client.model.Aggregates;\n",
     "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Aggregates.match;\n",
     "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Aggregates.limit;\n",
     "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Aggregates.sort;\n",
+    "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Sorts.ascending;\n",
+    "\n",
+    "import org.bson.Document;\n",
+    "import org.bson.conversions.Bson;\n",
     "\n",
     "import org.bson.Document;\n",
     "import org.bson.conversions.Bson;\n",
@@ -82,7 +83,7 @@
    "source": [
     "## $match\n",
     "\n",
-    "We'll get all book written after 2010"
+    "We'll get all books written after 2010."
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -96,13 +97,12 @@
    },
    "outputs": [],
    "source": [
-    "List<Bson> booksFrom2010 = Arrays.asList(\n",
-    "    match(and(\n",
-    "        gte(\"year\", 2010)\n",
-    "    ))\n",
-    ");\n",
+    "Bson yearFilter = gt(\"year\", 2010);\n",
+    "Bson matchStage = match(yearFilter);\n",
     "\n",
-    "AggregateIterable<Document> result = books.aggregate(booksFrom2010);\n",
+    "List<Bson> aggregationPipeline = List.of(matchStage);\n",
+    "\n",
+    "AggregateIterable<Document> result = books.aggregate(aggregationPipeline);\n",
     "\n",
     "// Iterate through the results\n",
     "for (Document doc : result) {\n",
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@
    "source": [
     "### $limit\n",
     "\n",
-    "Now we want to limit just to 10 books"
+    "We'll get books published after 2010 and limit the results to 10 documents."
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -131,27 +131,33 @@
    },
    "outputs": [],
    "source": [
-    "List<Bson> tenBooksFrom2010 = Arrays.asList(\n",
-    "    match(and(\n",
-    "        gte(\"year\", 2010)\n",
-    "    )),\n",
-    "    limit(10)\n",
-    ");\n",
+    "Bson yearFilter = gt(\"year\", 2010);\n",
+    "Bson matchStage = match(yearFilter);\n",
+    "Bson limitStage = limit(10);\n",
     "\n",
-    "AggregateIterable<Document> result = books.aggregate(tenBooksFrom2010);\n",
+    "List<Bson> aggregationPipeline = List.of(matchStage, limitStage);\n",
+    "\n",
+    "AggregateIterable<Document> result = books.aggregate(aggregationPipeline);\n",
     "\n",
-    "// Iterate through the results\n",
     "for (Document doc : result) {\n",
     "    System.out.println(\"book: \" + doc.toJson());\n",
     "}"
    ]
   },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "064ae5de",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "source": []
+  },
   {
    "cell_type": "markdown",
    "id": "worth-windows",
    "metadata": {},
    "source": [
-    "### $sort"
+    "### $sort\n",
+    "\n",
+    "We'll sort the results by publication year in ascending order."
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -165,17 +171,19 @@
    },
    "outputs": [],
    "source": [
-    "List<Bson> tenBooksFrom2010 = Arrays.asList(\n",
-    "    match(and(\n",
-    "        gte(\"year\", 2010)\n",
-    "    )),\n",
-    "    limit(10),\n",
-    "    sort(new Document(\"year\", 1))\n",
+    "Bson yearFilter = gt(\"year\", 2010);\n",
+    "Bson matchStage = match(yearFilter);\n",
+    "Bson limitStage = limit(10);\n",
+    "Bson sortStage = sort(ascending(\"year\"));\n",
+    "\n",
+    "List<Bson> aggregationPipeline = List.of(\n",
+    "    matchStage,\n",
+    "    limitStage,\n",
+    "    sortStage\n",
     ");\n",
     "\n",
-    "AggregateIterable<Document> result = books.aggregate(tenBooksFrom2010);\n",
+    "AggregateIterable<Document> result = books.aggregate(aggregationPipeline);\n",
     "\n",
-    "// Iterate through the results\n",
     "for (Document doc : result) {\n",
     "    System.out.println(\"book: \" + doc.toJson());\n",
     "}"
diff --git a/java/101_aggregation_pipeline_arrays.ipynb b/java/101_aggregation_pipeline_arrays.ipynb
index b3bd188..e6f863e 100644
--- a/java/101_aggregation_pipeline_arrays.ipynb
+++ b/java/101_aggregation_pipeline_arrays.ipynb
@@ -43,22 +43,23 @@
     "import com.mongodb.client.MongoClients;\n",
     "import com.mongodb.client.MongoDatabase;\n",
     "import com.mongodb.client.MongoCollection;\n",
-    "import com.mongodb.client.FindIterable;\n",
     "import com.mongodb.client.AggregateIterable;\n",
-    "import com.mongodb.client.model.Accumulators;\n",
     "import com.mongodb.client.model.Projections;\n",
-    "import com.mongodb.client.model.Filters;\n",
     "import com.mongodb.client.model.Field;\n",
     "import com.mongodb.client.model.Sorts;\n",
     "import com.mongodb.client.model.Aggregates;\n",
     "\n",
-    "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Filters.gte;\n",
-    "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Filters.and;\n",
     "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Filters.gt;\n",
     "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Filters.exists;\n",
+    "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Filters.all;\n",
+    "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Filters.in;\n",
+    "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Sorts.descending;\n",
+    "\n",
+    "\n",
     "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Aggregates.match;\n",
-    "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Aggregates.limit;\n",
+    "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Aggregates.project;\n",
     "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Aggregates.sort;\n",
+    "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Aggregates.addFields;\n",
     "\n",
     "import org.bson.Document;\n",
     "import org.bson.conversions.Bson;\n",
@@ -94,9 +95,10 @@
    "source": [
     "### $match: $all\n",
     "\n",
-    "https://mongodb-developer.github.io/aggregation-pipeline-lab/docs/using-arrays/simple-match-array \n",
+    "[arrays-reference](\n",
+    "https://mongodb-developer.github.io/aggregation-pipeline-lab/docs/using-arrays/simple-match-array)\n",
     "\n",
-    "If you want to search for all books that have \"Family Life\" and \"Fiction\", in any order (and possibly other genres) use:"
+    "If you want to find books whose `genres` array contains both \"Family Life\" and \"Fiction\", in any order, use:"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -131,7 +133,7 @@
    "source": [
     "### $match: $in\n",
     "\n",
-    "Finds books that have \"Family Life\" OR \"Fiction\""
+    "Use `$in` to find books where the `genres` array contains at least one of the specified values."
    ]
   },
   {
diff --git a/java/102_aggregation_pipeline_unwind.ipynb b/java/102_aggregation_pipeline_unwind.ipynb
index 1ee294b..8f1d901 100644
--- a/java/102_aggregation_pipeline_unwind.ipynb
+++ b/java/102_aggregation_pipeline_unwind.ipynb
@@ -44,13 +44,10 @@
     "import com.mongodb.client.MongoClients;\n",
     "import com.mongodb.client.MongoCollection;\n",
     "import com.mongodb.client.MongoDatabase;\n",
-    "import com.mongodb.client.model.Accumulators;\n",
     "import com.mongodb.client.model.Aggregates;\n",
     "import com.mongodb.client.model.Filters;\n",
     "import org.bson.Document;\n",
     "\n",
-    "import java.util.Arrays;\n",
-    "\n",
     "// Set your connection String\n",
     "String connectionString = \"mongodb://admin:mongodb@localhost:27017/\";\n",
     "\n",
@@ -67,12 +64,20 @@
     "MongoCollection<Document> books = library.getCollection(\"books\");"
    ]
   },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "0b648872",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "source": []
+  },
   {
    "cell_type": "markdown",
    "id": "handled-symbol",
    "metadata": {},
    "source": [
-    "## $unwind"
+    "## $unwind\n",
+    "\n",
+    "This pipeline first selects the book with `_id` `\"0004127382\"` and then uses `$unwind` to split the `attributes` array into separate documents. Each result contains the book title and one individual attribute.\n"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -86,13 +91,9 @@
    },
    "outputs": [],
    "source": [
-    "AggregateIterable<Document> result = books.aggregate(Arrays.asList(\n",
-    "    Aggregates.match(Filters.and(\n",
-    "        Filters.eq(\"_id\", \"60187778\")\n",
-    "    )),\n",
-    "\n",
-    "    Aggregates.unwind(\"$attributes\"),\n",
-    "    \n",
+    "AggregateIterable<Document> result = books.aggregate(List.of(\n",
+    "    Aggregates.match(Filters.eq(\"_id\", \"0004127382\")),\n",
+    "    Aggregates.unwind(\"$attributes\"),    \n",
     "    Aggregates.project(new Document()\n",
     "        .append(\"title\", 1)\n",
     "        .append(\"attributes\", 1)\n",
diff --git a/java/103_aggregation_pipeline_lookup.ipynb b/java/103_aggregation_pipeline_lookup.ipynb
index 0eb9efa..d90aeca 100644
--- a/java/103_aggregation_pipeline_lookup.ipynb
+++ b/java/103_aggregation_pipeline_lookup.ipynb
@@ -52,7 +52,6 @@
     "import static com.mongodb.client.model.Aggregates.limit;\n",
     "\n",
     "import org.bson.Document;\n",
-    "import java.util.Arrays;\n",
     "\n",
     "// Set your connection String\n",
     "String connectionString = \"mongodb://admin:mongodb@localhost:27017/\";\n",
@@ -75,7 +74,9 @@
    "id": "handled-symbol",
    "metadata": {},
    "source": [
-    "## $lookup"
+    "## $lookup\n",
+    "\n",
+    "This pipeline uses `$lookup` to join data from the `books` collection into each author document. It matches the values in the author's `books` array with the `_id` field in the `books` collection and stores the matching documents in a new field called `booksWritten`."
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -90,7 +91,7 @@
    "outputs": [],
    "source": [
     "AggregateIterable<Document> result = authors.aggregate(\n",
-    "    Arrays.asList(\n",
+    "    List.of(\n",
     "        lookup(\"books\", // collection with the book data to read into authors\n",
     "               \"books\", // array in authors documents with the ids of all books written by an author\n",
     "               \"_id\",   // field in the books collection to link with\n",
diff --git a/java/104_aggregation_pipeline_group_by.ipynb b/java/104_aggregation_pipeline_group_by.ipynb
index cd89f99..6baabb1 100644
--- a/java/104_aggregation_pipeline_group_by.ipynb
+++ b/java/104_aggregation_pipeline_group_by.ipynb
@@ -70,7 +70,9 @@
    "id": "handled-symbol",
    "metadata": {},
    "source": [
-    "## $group"
+    "## $group\n",
+    "\n",
+    "`$group` groups books by `year` and calculates the total number of pages for each group."
    ]
   },
   {