--- a/graal/com.oracle.graal.compiler/src/com/oracle/graal/compiler/GraalCompiler.java	Thu Apr 11 16:52:54 2013 +0200
+++ b/graal/com.oracle.graal.compiler/src/com/oracle/graal/compiler/GraalCompiler.java	Thu Apr 11 16:54:49 2013 +0200
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 import com.oracle.graal.api.meta.*;
 import com.oracle.graal.compiler.alloc.*;
 import com.oracle.graal.compiler.gen.*;
+import com.oracle.graal.compiler.phases.*;
 import com.oracle.graal.compiler.target.*;
 import com.oracle.graal.debug.*;
 import com.oracle.graal.lir.*;
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@
 import com.oracle.graal.phases.PhasePlan.PhasePosition;
 import com.oracle.graal.phases.common.*;
 import com.oracle.graal.phases.schedule.*;
+import com.oracle.graal.phases.tiers.*;
 import com.oracle.graal.virtual.phases.ea.*;
 
 public class GraalCompiler {
@@ -155,21 +157,8 @@
             new PartialEscapeAnalysisPhase(runtime, assumptions, true, GraalOptions.OptEarlyReadElimination).apply(graph);
         }
 
-        if (GraalOptions.OptConvertDeoptsToGuards) {
-            new ConvertDeoptimizeToGuardPhase().apply(graph);
-        }
-
-        new LockEliminationPhase().apply(graph);
-
-        if (GraalOptions.OptLoopTransform) {
-            new LoopTransformHighPhase().apply(graph);
-            new LoopTransformLowPhase().apply(graph);
-        }
-        new RemoveValueProxyPhase().apply(graph);
-
-        if (GraalOptions.CullFrameStates) {
-            new CullFrameStatesPhase().apply(graph);
-        }
+        HighTierContext highTierContext = new HighTierContext(runtime, assumptions);
+        Suites.HIGH_TIER.apply(graph, highTierContext);
 
         if (GraalOptions.OptCanonicalizer) {
             new CanonicalizerPhase(runtime, assumptions).apply(graph);

--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/graal/com.oracle.graal.compiler/src/com/oracle/graal/compiler/phases/Suites.java	Thu Apr 11 16:54:49 2013 +0200
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
+ *
+ * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
+ * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
+ * accompanied this code).
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
+ * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
+ * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
+ * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
+ * questions.
+ */
+package com.oracle.graal.compiler.phases;
+
+import java.util.*;
+
+import com.oracle.graal.loop.phases.*;
+import com.oracle.graal.phases.*;
+import com.oracle.graal.phases.common.*;
+import com.oracle.graal.phases.tiers.*;
+
+public class Suites {
+
+    public static final PhaseSuite<HighTierContext> HIGH_TIER = createHighTier();
+
+    private static PhaseSuite<HighTierContext> createHighTier() {
+        ArrayList<BasePhase<? super HighTierContext>> phases = new ArrayList<>();
+
+        if (GraalOptions.OptConvertDeoptsToGuards) {
+            phases.add(new ConvertDeoptimizeToGuardPhase());
+        }
+
+        phases.add(new LockEliminationPhase());
+
+        if (GraalOptions.OptLoopTransform) {
+            phases.add(new LoopTransformHighPhase());
+            phases.add(new LoopTransformLowPhase());
+        }
+        phases.add(new RemoveValueProxyPhase());
+
+        if (GraalOptions.CullFrameStates) {
+            phases.add(new CullFrameStatesPhase());
+        }
+
+        return new PhaseSuite<>("HighTier", phases);
+    }
+}

--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/graal/com.oracle.graal.phases/src/com/oracle/graal/phases/BasePhase.java	Thu Apr 11 16:54:49 2013 +0200
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2011, 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
+ *
+ * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
+ * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
+ * accompanied this code).
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
+ * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
+ * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
+ * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
+ * questions.
+ */
+package com.oracle.graal.phases;
+
+import com.oracle.graal.debug.*;
+import com.oracle.graal.nodes.*;
+
+/**
+ * Base class for all compiler phases. Subclasses should be stateless. There will be one global
+ * instance for each compiler phase that is shared for all compilations. VM-, target- and
+ * compilation-specific data can be passed with a context object.
+ */
+public abstract class BasePhase<C> {
+
+    private String name;
+    private static final DebugMetric metricPhaseRuns = Debug.metric("Runs");
+    protected static final DebugMetric METRIC_PROCESSED_NODES = Debug.metric("ProcessedNodes");
+
+    protected BasePhase() {
+        this.name = this.getClass().getSimpleName();
+        if (name.endsWith("Phase")) {
+            name = name.substring(0, name.length() - "Phase".length());
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected BasePhase(String name) {
+        this.name = name;
+    }
+
+    protected String getDetailedName() {
+        return getName();
+    }
+
+    public final void apply(final StructuredGraph graph, final C context) {
+        apply(graph, context, true);
+    }
+
+    public final void apply(final StructuredGraph graph, final C context, final boolean dumpGraph) {
+        Debug.scope(name, this, new Runnable() {
+
+            public void run() {
+                BasePhase.this.run(graph, context);
+                metricPhaseRuns.increment();
+                if (dumpGraph) {
+                    Debug.dump(graph, "After phase %s", name);
+                }
+                assert graph.verify();
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
+    public final String getName() {
+        return name;
+    }
+
+    protected abstract void run(StructuredGraph graph, C context);
+}

--- a/graal/com.oracle.graal.phases/src/com/oracle/graal/phases/Phase.java	Thu Apr 11 16:52:54 2013 +0200
+++ b/graal/com.oracle.graal.phases/src/com/oracle/graal/phases/Phase.java	Thu Apr 11 16:54:49 2013 +0200
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2011, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2011, 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -22,28 +22,18 @@
  */
 package com.oracle.graal.phases;
 
-import com.oracle.graal.debug.*;
 import com.oracle.graal.nodes.*;
 
-public abstract class Phase {
-
-    private String name;
-    private static final DebugMetric metricPhaseRuns = Debug.metric("Runs");
-    protected static final DebugMetric METRIC_PROCESSED_NODES = Debug.metric("ProcessedNodes");
+/**
+ * Base class for compiler phases that don't need a context object.
+ */
+public abstract class Phase extends BasePhase<Object> {
 
     protected Phase() {
-        this.name = this.getClass().getSimpleName();
-        if (name.endsWith("Phase")) {
-            name = name.substring(0, name.length() - "Phase".length());
-        }
     }
 
     protected Phase(String name) {
-        this.name = name;
-    }
-
-    protected String getDetailedName() {
-        return getName();
+        super(name);
     }
 
     public final void apply(final StructuredGraph graph) {
@@ -51,22 +41,13 @@
     }
 
     public final void apply(final StructuredGraph graph, final boolean dumpGraph) {
-        Debug.scope(name, this, new Runnable() {
-
-            public void run() {
-                Phase.this.run(graph);
-                metricPhaseRuns.increment();
-                if (dumpGraph) {
-                    Debug.dump(graph, "After phase %s", name);
-                }
-                assert graph.verify();
-            }
-        });
-    }
-
-    public final String getName() {
-        return name;
+        apply(graph, null, dumpGraph);
     }
 
     protected abstract void run(StructuredGraph graph);
+
+    @Override
+    protected final void run(StructuredGraph graph, Object context) {
+        run(graph);
+    }
 }

--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/graal/com.oracle.graal.phases/src/com/oracle/graal/phases/PhaseSuite.java	Thu Apr 11 16:54:49 2013 +0200
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
+ *
+ * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
+ * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
+ * accompanied this code).
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
+ * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
+ * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
+ * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
+ * questions.
+ */
+package com.oracle.graal.phases;
+
+import java.util.*;
+
+import com.oracle.graal.nodes.*;
+
+public class PhaseSuite<C> extends BasePhase<C> {
+
+    private final List<BasePhase<? super C>> phases;
+
+    public PhaseSuite(String name, List<BasePhase<? super C>> phases) {
+        super(name);
+        this.phases = phases;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected void run(StructuredGraph graph, C context) {
+        for (BasePhase<? super C> phase : phases) {
+            phase.apply(graph, context);
+        }
+    }
+}

--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/graal/com.oracle.graal.phases/src/com/oracle/graal/phases/tiers/HighTierContext.java	Thu Apr 11 16:54:49 2013 +0200
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
+ *
+ * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
+ * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
+ * accompanied this code).
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
+ * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
+ * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
+ * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
+ * questions.
+ */
+package com.oracle.graal.phases.tiers;
+
+import com.oracle.graal.api.code.*;
+import com.oracle.graal.api.meta.*;
+
+public class HighTierContext {
+
+    private final MetaAccessProvider runtime;
+    private final Assumptions assumptions;
+
+    public HighTierContext(MetaAccessProvider runtime, Assumptions assumptions) {
+        this.runtime = runtime;
+        this.assumptions = assumptions;
+    }
+
+    public MetaAccessProvider getRuntime() {
+        return runtime;
+    }
+
+    public Assumptions getAssumptions() {
+        return assumptions;
+    }
+}

--- a/mxtool/mx.py	Thu Apr 11 16:52:54 2013 +0200
+++ b/mxtool/mx.py	Thu Apr 11 16:54:49 2013 +0200
@@ -1344,7 +1344,7 @@
     parser = parser if parser is not None else ArgumentParser(prog='mx build')
     parser.add_argument('-f', action='store_true', dest='force', help='force build (disables timestamp checking)')
     parser.add_argument('-c', action='store_true', dest='clean', help='removes existing build output')
-    parser.add_argument('--source', dest='compliance', help='Java compliance level', default=str(javaCompliance))
+    parser.add_argument('--source', dest='compliance', help='Java compliance level for projects without an explicit one', default=str(javaCompliance))
     parser.add_argument('--Wapi', action='store_true', dest='warnAPI', help='show warnings about using internal APIs')
     parser.add_argument('--projects', action='store', help='comma separated projects to build (omit to build all projects)')
     parser.add_argument('--only', action='store', help='comma separated projects to build, without checking their dependencies (omit to build all projects)')
@@ -1502,16 +1502,17 @@
 
         toBeDeleted = [argfileName]
         try:
+            compliance = str(p.javaCompliance) if p.javaCompliance is not None else args.compliance
             if jdtJar is None:
                 log('Compiling Java sources for {0} with javac...'.format(p.name))
-                javacCmd = [java().javac, '-g', '-J-Xmx1g', '-source', args.compliance, '-classpath', cp, '-d', outputDir] + javacArgs + ['@' + argfile.name]
+                javacCmd = [java().javac, '-g', '-J-Xmx1g', '-source', compliance, '-classpath', cp, '-d', outputDir] + javacArgs + ['@' + argfile.name]
                 if not args.warnAPI:
                     javacCmd.append('-XDignore.symbol.file')
                 run(javacCmd)
             else:
                 log('Compiling Java sources for {0} with JDT...'.format(p.name))
                 jdtArgs = [java().java, '-Xmx1g', '-jar', jdtJar,
-                         '-' + args.compliance,
+                         '-' + compliance,
                          '-cp', cp, '-g', '-enableJavadoc',
                          '-d', outputDir] + javacArgs
                 jdtProperties = join(p.dir, '.settings', 'org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs')