diff --git a/spec/arguments_spec.lua b/spec/arguments_spec.lua
index dc3be80..49f5e32 100644
--- a/spec/arguments_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/arguments_spec.lua
@@ -5,14 +5,14 @@ describe("tests related to positional arguments", function()
       it("handles empty parser correctly", function()
          local parser = argparse.parser()
          local args = parser:parse({})
-         assert.same(args, {})
+         assert.same({}, args)
       end)
 
       it("handles one argument correctly", function()
          local parser = argparse.parser()
          parser:argument "foo"
          local args = parser:parse({"bar"})
-         assert.same(args, {foo = "bar"})
+         assert.same({foo = "bar"}, args)
       end)
 
       it("handles several arguments correctly", function()
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ describe("tests related to positional arguments", function()
          parser:argument "foo1"
          parser:argument "foo2"
          local args = parser:parse({"bar", "baz"})
-         assert.same(args, {foo1 = "bar", foo2 = "baz"})
+         assert.same({foo1 = "bar", foo2 = "baz"}, args)
       end)
 
       it("handles multi-argument correctly", function()
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ describe("tests related to positional arguments", function()
             args = "*"
          })
          local args = parser:parse({"bar", "baz", "qu"})
-         assert.same(args, {foo = {"bar", "baz", "qu"}})
+         assert.same({foo = {"bar", "baz", "qu"}}, args)
       end)
 
       it("handles restrained multi-argument correctly", function()
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ describe("tests related to positional arguments", function()
             args = "2-4"
          })
          local args = parser:parse({"bar", "baz"})
-         assert.same(args, {foo = {"bar", "baz"}})
+         assert.same({foo = {"bar", "baz"}}, args)
       end)
 
       it("handles several multi-arguments correctly", function()
@@ -50,23 +50,23 @@ describe("tests related to positional arguments", function()
             args = "*"
          })
          local args = parser:parse({"bar"})
-         assert.same(args, {foo1 = {"bar"}, foo2 = {}})
+         assert.same({foo1 = {"bar"}, foo2 = {}}, args)
          args = parser:parse({"bar", "baz", "qu"})
-         assert.same(args, {foo1 = {"bar", "baz"}, foo2 = {"qu"}})
+         assert.same({foo1 = {"bar", "baz"}, foo2 = {"qu"}}, args)
       end)
 
       it("handles hyphen correctly", function()
          local parser = argparse.parser()
          parser:argument "foo"
          local args = parser:parse({"-"})
-         assert.same(args, {foo = "-"})
+         assert.same({foo = "-"}, args)
       end)
 
       it("handles double hyphen correctly", function()
          local parser = argparse.parser()
          parser:argument "foo"
          local args = parser:parse({"--", "-q"})
-         assert.same(args, {foo = "-q"})
+         assert.same({foo = "-q"}, args)
       end)
    end)
 
diff --git a/spec/commands_spec.lua b/spec/commands_spec.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..94dc7c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/commands_spec.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+local argparse = require "argparse"
+
+describe("tests related to commands", function()
+   it("handles commands after arguments", function()
+      local parser = argparse.parser "name"
+      parser:argument "file"
+      parser:command "create"
+      parser:command "remove"
+
+      local args = parser:parse{"temp.txt", "remove"}
+      assert.same({file = "temp.txt", remove = true}, args)
+   end)
+end)
diff --git a/spec/default_spec.lua b/spec/default_spec.lua
index 8c73c18..21a5a82 100644
--- a/spec/default_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/default_spec.lua
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ describe("tests related to default values", function()
             default = "bar"
          })
          local args = parser:parse({})
-         assert.same(args, {foo = "bar"})
+         assert.same({foo = "bar"}, args)
       end)
 
       it("handles default multi-argument correctly", function()
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ describe("tests related to default values", function()
             default = "bar"
          })
          local args = parser:parse({"baz"})
-         assert.same(args, {foo = {"baz", "bar", "bar"}})
+         assert.same({foo = {"baz", "bar", "bar"}}, args)
       end)
 
       it("does not use default values if not needed", function()
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ describe("tests related to default values", function()
             default = "bar"
          })
          local args = parser:parse({"baz"})
-         assert.same(args, {foo = {"baz"}})
+         assert.same({foo = {"baz"}}, args)
       end)
    end)
 
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ describe("tests related to default values", function()
             default = "bar"
          })
          local args = parser:parse({"-f"})
-         assert.same(args, {foo = "bar"})
+         assert.same({foo = "bar"}, args)
       end)
 
       it("doesn't use default if option is not invoked", function()
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ describe("tests related to default values", function()
             default = "bar"
          })
          local args = parser:parse({})
-         assert.same(args, {})
+         assert.same({}, args)
       end)
 
       it("handles default multi-argument correctly", function()
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ describe("tests related to default values", function()
             default = "bar"
          })
          local args = parser:parse({"--foo=baz"})
-         assert.same(args, {foo = {"baz", "bar", "bar"}})
+         assert.same({foo = {"baz", "bar", "bar"}}, args)
       end)
 
       it("does not use default values if not needed", function()
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ describe("tests related to default values", function()
             default = "bar"
          })
          local args = parser:parse({"-f", "baz"})
-         assert.same(args, {foo = {"baz"}})
+         assert.same({foo = {"baz"}}, args)
       end)
 
       it("handles multi-count options with default value correctly", function()
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ describe("tests related to default values", function()
             default = "bar"
          })
          local args = parser:parse({"-f", "--foo=baz", "--foo"})
-         assert.same(args, {foo = {"bar", "baz", "bar"}})
+         assert.same({foo = {"bar", "baz", "bar"}}, args)
       end)
    end)
 end)
diff --git a/spec/options_spec.lua b/spec/options_spec.lua
index cef54eb..e73c43b 100644
--- a/spec/options_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/options_spec.lua
@@ -6,21 +6,21 @@ describe("tests related to options", function()
          local parser = argparse.parser()
          parser:option("-s", "--server")
          local args = parser:parse({})
-         assert.same(args, {})
+         assert.same({}, args)
       end)
 
       it("handles one option correctly", function()
          local parser = argparse.parser()
          parser:option("-s", "--server")
          local args = parser:parse({"--server", "foo"})
-         assert.same(args, {server = "foo"})
+         assert.same({server = "foo"}, args)
       end)
 
       it("handles GNU-style long options", function()
          local parser = argparse.parser()
          parser:option("-s", "--server")
          local args = parser:parse({"--server=foo"})
-         assert.same(args, {server = "foo"})
+         assert.same({server = "foo"}, args)
       end)
 
       it("handles GNU-style long options even when it could take more arguments", function()
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ describe("tests related to options", function()
             args = "*"
          })
          local args = parser:parse({"--server=foo"})
-         assert.same(args, {server = {"foo"}})
+         assert.same({server = {"foo"}}, args)
       end)
 
       it("handles GNU-style long options for multi-argument options", function()
@@ -38,21 +38,23 @@ describe("tests related to options", function()
             args = "1-2"
          })
          local args = parser:parse({"--server=foo", "bar"})
-         assert.same(args, {server = {"foo", "bar"}})
+         assert.same({server = {"foo", "bar"}}, args)
       end)
 
       it("handles short option correclty", function()
          local parser = argparse.parser()
          parser:option("-s", "--server")
          local args = parser:parse({"-s", "foo"})
-         assert.same(args, {server = "foo"})
+         assert.same({server = "foo"}, args)
       end)
 
       it("handles flag correclty", function()
          local parser = argparse.parser()
          parser:flag("-q", "--quiet")
          local args = parser:parse({"--quiet"})
-         assert.same(args, {quiet = true})
+         assert.same({quiet = true}, args)
+         local args = parser:parse({})
+         assert.same({}, args)
       end)
 
       it("handles combined flags correclty", function()
@@ -60,14 +62,14 @@ describe("tests related to options", function()
          parser:flag("-q", "--quiet")
          parser:flag("-f", "--fast")
          local args = parser:parse({"-qf"})
-         assert.same(args, {quiet = true, fast = true})
+         assert.same({quiet = true, fast = true}, args)
       end)
 
       it("handles short options without space between option and argument", function()
          local parser = argparse.parser()
          parser:option("-s", "--server")
          local args = parser:parse({"-sfoo"})
-         assert.same(args, {server = "foo"})
+         assert.same({server = "foo"}, args)
       end)
 
       it("handles flags combined with short option correclty", function()
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ describe("tests related to options", function()
          parser:flag("-q", "--quiet")
          parser:option("-s", "--server")
          local args = parser:parse({"-qsfoo"})
-         assert.same(args, {quiet = true, server = "foo"})
+         assert.same({quiet = true, server = "foo"}, args)
       end)
 
       describe("Options with optional argument", function()
@@ -85,7 +87,7 @@ describe("tests related to options", function()
                args = "?"
             })
             local args = parser:parse({})
-            assert.same(args, {})
+            assert.same({}, args)
          end)
 
          it("handles option without argument correctly", function()
@@ -94,7 +96,7 @@ describe("tests related to options", function()
                args = "?"
             })
             local args = parser:parse({"-p"})
-            assert.same(args, {password = {}})
+            assert.same({password = {}}, args)
          end)
 
          it("handles option with argument correctly", function()
@@ -103,7 +105,7 @@ describe("tests related to options", function()
                args = "?"
             })
             local args = parser:parse({"-p", "password"})
-            assert.same(args, {password = {"password"}})
+            assert.same({password = {"password"}}, args)
          end)
       end)
 
@@ -113,7 +115,7 @@ describe("tests related to options", function()
             args = 2
          })
          local args = parser:parse({"--pair", "Alice", "Bob"})
-         assert.same(args, {pair = {"Alice", "Bob"}})
+         assert.same({pair = {"Alice", "Bob"}}, args)
       end)
 
       describe("Multi-count options", function()
@@ -123,7 +125,7 @@ describe("tests related to options", function()
                count = "*"
             })
             local args = parser:parse({"-efoo", "--exclude=bar", "-e", "baz"})
-            assert.same(args, {exclude = {"foo", "bar", "baz"}})
+            assert.same({exclude = {"foo", "bar", "baz"}}, args)
          end)
 
          it("handles not used multi-count option correctly", function()
@@ -132,7 +134,7 @@ describe("tests related to options", function()
                count = "*"
             })
             local args = parser:parse({})
-            assert.same(args, {exclude = {}})
+            assert.same({exclude = {}}, args)
          end)
 
          it("handles multi-count multi-argument option correctly", function()
@@ -142,7 +144,7 @@ describe("tests related to options", function()
                args = 2
             })
             local args = parser:parse({"-e", "Alice", "Bob", "-e", "Emma", "Jacob"})
-            assert.same(args, {exclude = {{"Alice", "Bob"}, {"Emma", "Jacob"}}})
+            assert.same({exclude = {{"Alice", "Bob"}, {"Emma", "Jacob"}}}, args)
          end)
 
          it("handles multi-count flag correctly", function()
@@ -151,7 +153,7 @@ describe("tests related to options", function()
                count = "*"
             })
             local args = parser:parse({"-qq", "--quiet"})
-            assert.same(args, {quiet = 3})
+            assert.same({quiet = 3}, args)
          end)
 
          it("overwrites old invocations", function()
@@ -160,7 +162,7 @@ describe("tests related to options", function()
                count = "0-2"
             })
             local args = parser:parse({"-uAlice", "--user=Bob", "--user", "John"})
-            assert.same(args, {user = {"Bob", "John"}})
+            assert.same({user = {"Bob", "John"}}, args)
          end)
 
          it("handles not used multi-count flag correctly", function()
@@ -169,7 +171,7 @@ describe("tests related to options", function()
                count = "*"
             })
             local args = parser:parse({})
-            assert.same(args, {quiet = 0})
+            assert.same({quiet = 0}, args)
          end)
       end)
    end)
diff --git a/src/argparse.lua b/src/argparse.lua
index 5563726..6a22132 100644
--- a/src/argparse.lua
+++ b/src/argparse.lua
@@ -221,11 +221,14 @@ function Parser:parse(args)
    local parser
    local charset
    local options = {}
-   local arguments, commands
+   local arguments = {}
+   local commands
    local opt_context = {}
    local com_context
    local result = {}
-   local cur_option, cur_arg_i, cur_arg
+   local cur_option
+   local cur_arg_i = 1
+   local cur_arg
 
    local function close(element)
       local invocations = result[element.target]
@@ -291,15 +294,13 @@ function Parser:parse(args)
          result[option.target] = {}
       end
 
-      arguments = p.arguments
-      cur_arg_i = 1
-      cur_arg = arguments[cur_arg_i]
-
-      for _, argument in ipairs(arguments) do
+      for _, argument in ipairs(p.arguments) do
+         table.insert(arguments, argument)
          result[argument.target] = {}
          invoke(argument)
       end
 
+      cur_arg = arguments[cur_arg_i]
       commands = p.commands
       com_context = {}
 
@@ -396,7 +397,6 @@ function Parser:parse(args)
    end
 
    local function format()
-      local new_result = {}
       local invocations
 
       for _, elements in ipairs{options, arguments} do
@@ -409,32 +409,32 @@ function Parser:parse(args)
             if element.maxcount == 1 then
                if element.maxargs == 0 then
                   if #invocations > 0 then
-                     new_result[element.target] = true
+                     result[element.target] = true
+                  else
+                     result[element.target] = nil
                   end
                elseif element.maxargs == 1 and element.minargs == 1 then
                   if #invocations > 0 then
-                     new_result[element.target] = invocations[1][1]
+                     result[element.target] = invocations[1][1]
+                  else
+                     result[element.target] = nil
                   end
                else
-                  new_result[element.target] = invocations[1]
+                  result[element.target] = invocations[1]
                end
             else
                if element.maxargs == 0 then
-                  new_result[element.target] = #invocations
+                  result[element.target] = #invocations
                elseif element.maxargs == 1 and element.minargs == 1 then
-                  new_result[element.target] = {}
-
-                  for _, passed in ipairs(invocations) do
-                     table.insert(new_result[element.target], passed[1])
+                  for i=1, #invocations do
+                     invocations[i] = invocations[i][1]
                   end
                else
-                  new_result[element.target] = invocations
+                  result[element.target] = invocations
                end
             end
          end
       end
-
-      result = new_result
    end
 
    switch(self)