--- a/mx/.pylintrc	Wed Sep 04 13:21:30 2013 +0200
+++ b/mx/.pylintrc	Wed Sep 04 14:54:48 2013 +0200
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 ignore=CVS
 
 # Pickle collected data for later comparisons.
-persistent=yes
+persistent=no
 
 # List of plugins (as comma separated values of python modules names) to load,
 # usually to register additional checkers.
@@ -41,7 +41,10 @@
 disable=attribute-defined-outside-init,arguments-differ,
         bare-except,global-statement,protected-access,redefined-outer-name,
         unused-argument,star-args,pointless-string-statement,old-style-class,
-        too-many-lines,missing-docstring,no-init
+        too-many-lines,missing-docstring,no-init,no-self-use,too-many-statements,
+        too-many-locals,too-few-public-methods,too-many-instance-attributes,
+        too-many-arguments,too-many-branches,too-many-public-methods,
+        abstract-method
 
 [REPORTS]
 
@@ -92,10 +95,10 @@
 class-rgx=[A-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9]+$
 
 # Regular expression which should only match correct function names
-function-rgx=[a-z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]{1,30}$
+function-rgx=[a-z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]{1,40}$
 
 # Regular expression which should only match correct method names
-method-rgx=[a-z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]{2,30}$
+method-rgx=[a-z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]{2,40}$
 
 # Regular expression which should only match correct instance attribute names
 attr-rgx=[a-z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]{1,30}$

--- a/mx/commands.py	Wed Sep 04 13:21:30 2013 +0200
+++ b/mx/commands.py	Wed Sep 04 14:54:48 2013 +0200
@@ -442,6 +442,38 @@
         log.close()
     return ret
 
+def pylint(args):
+    """run pylint (if available) over Python source files"""
+    rcfile = join(_graal_home, 'mx', '.pylintrc')
+    if not exists(rcfile):
+        mx.log('pylint configuration file does not exist: ' + rcfile)
+        return
+
+    try:
+        output = subprocess.check_output(['pylint', '--version'], stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+        m = re.match(r'.*pylint (\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+).*', output, re.DOTALL)
+        if not m:
+            mx.log('could not determine pylint version from ' + output)
+            return
+        major, minor, micro = (int(m.group(1)), int(m.group(2)), int(m.group(3)))
+        if major < 1:
+            mx.log('require pylint version >= 1 (got {0}.{1}.{2})'.format(major, minor, micro))
+            return
+    except BaseException:
+        mx.log('pylint is not available')
+        return
+
+
+    env = os.environ.copy()
+    env['PYTHONPATH'] = dirname(mx.__file__)
+
+    for root, _, filenames in os.walk(_graal_home):
+        for f in filenames:
+            if f.endswith('.py'):
+                pyfile = join(_graal_home, root, f)
+                mx.log('Running pylint on ' + pyfile + '...')
+                mx.run(['pylint', '--reports=n', '--rcfile=' + rcfile, pyfile], env=env)
+
 def jdkhome(args, vm=None):
     """print the JDK directory selected for the 'vm' command"""
 
@@ -1332,6 +1364,7 @@
         'hcfdis': [hcfdis, ''],
         'igv' : [igv, ''],
         'jdkhome': [jdkhome, ''],
+        'pylint': [pylint, ''],
         'dacapo': [dacapo, '[VM options] benchmarks...|"all" [DaCapo options]'],
         'scaladacapo': [scaladacapo, '[VM options] benchmarks...|"all" [Scala DaCapo options]'],
         'specjvm2008': [specjvm2008, '[VM options] benchmarks...|"all" [SPECjvm2008 options]'],

--- a/mxtool/.pylintrc	Wed Sep 04 13:21:30 2013 +0200
+++ /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
@@ -1,275 +0,0 @@
-[MASTER]
-
-# Specify a configuration file.
-#rcfile=
-
-# Python code to execute, usually for sys.path manipulation such as
-# pygtk.require().
-#init-hook=
-
-# Profiled execution.
-profile=no
-
-# Add files or directories to the blacklist. They should be base names, not
-# paths.
-ignore=CVS
-
-# Pickle collected data for later comparisons.
-persistent=yes
-
-# List of plugins (as comma separated values of python modules names) to load,
-# usually to register additional checkers.
-load-plugins=
-
-
-[MESSAGES CONTROL]
-
-# Enable the message, report, category or checker with the given id(s). You can
-# either give multiple identifier separated by comma (,) or put this option
-# multiple time. See also the "--disable" option for examples.
-#enable=
-
-# Disable the message, report, category or checker with the given id(s). You
-# can either give multiple identifiers separated by comma (,) or put this
-# option multiple times (only on the command line, not in the configuration
-# file where it should appear only once).You can also use "--disable=all" to
-# disable everything first and then reenable specific checks. For example, if
-# you want to run only the similarities checker, you can use "--disable=all
-# --enable=similarities". If you want to run only the classes checker, but have
-# no Warning level messages displayed, use"--disable=all --enable=classes
-# --disable=W"
-disable=attribute-defined-outside-init,
-        bare-except,global-statement,protected-access,
-        redefined-outer-name,unused-argument,star-args,
-        old-style-class,too-many-lines,pointless-string-statement,
-
-[REPORTS]
-
-# Set the output format. Available formats are text, parseable, colorized, msvs
-# (visual studio) and html. You can also give a reporter class, eg
-# mypackage.mymodule.MyReporterClass.
-output-format=text
-
-# Put messages in a separate file for each module / package specified on the
-# command line instead of printing them on stdout. Reports (if any) will be
-# written in a file name "pylint_global.[txt|html]".
-files-output=no
-
-# Tells whether to display a full report or only the messages
-reports=no
-
-# Python expression which should return a note less than 10 (10 is the highest
-# note). You have access to the variables errors warning, statement which
-# respectively contain the number of errors / warnings messages and the total
-# number of statements analyzed. This is used by the global evaluation report
-# (RP0004).
-evaluation=10.0 - ((float(5 * error + warning + refactor + convention) / statement) * 10)
-
-# Add a comment according to your evaluation note. This is used by the global
-# evaluation report (RP0004).
-comment=no
-
-# Template used to display messages. This is a python new-style format string
-# used to format the massage information. See doc for all details
-#msg-template=
-
-
-[BASIC]
-
-# Required attributes for module, separated by a comma
-required-attributes=
-
-# List of builtins function names that should not be used, separated by a comma
-bad-functions=filter,apply,input
-
-# Regular expression which should only match correct module names
-module-rgx=(([a-z_][a-z0-9_]*)|([A-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]+))$
-
-# Regular expression which should only match correct module level names
-const-rgx=_[a-zA-Z0-9_]{2,30}$
-
-# Regular expression which should only match correct class names
-class-rgx=[A-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9]+$
-
-# Regular expression which should only match correct function names
-function-rgx=[a-z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]{1,50}$
-
-# Regular expression which should only match correct method names
-method-rgx=[a-z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]{1,50}$
-
-# Regular expression which should only match correct instance attribute names
-attr-rgx=[a-z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]{2,30}$
-
-# Regular expression which should only match correct argument names
-argument-rgx=[a-z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]{0,30}$
-
-# Regular expression which should only match correct variable names
-variable-rgx=[a-z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]{0,30}$
-
-# Regular expression which should only match correct attribute names in class
-# bodies
-class-attribute-rgx=([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]{2,30}|(__.*__))$
-
-# Regular expression which should only match correct list comprehension /
-# generator expression variable names
-inlinevar-rgx=[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*$
-
-# Good variable names which should always be accepted, separated by a comma
-good-names=i,j,k,ex,Run,_
-
-# Bad variable names which should always be refused, separated by a comma
-bad-names=foo,bar,baz,toto,tutu,tata
-
-# Regular expression which should only match function or class names that do
-# not require a docstring.
-no-docstring-rgx=.*
-
-# Minimum line length for functions/classes that require docstrings, shorter
-# ones are exempt.
-docstring-min-length=-1
-
-
-[FORMAT]
-
-# Maximum number of characters on a single line.
-max-line-length=300
-
-# Regexp for a line that is allowed to be longer than the limit.
-ignore-long-lines=^\s*(# )?<?https?://\S+>?$
-
-# Maximum number of lines in a module
-max-module-lines=1000
-
-# String used as indentation unit. This is usually " " (4 spaces) or "\t" (1
-# tab).
-indent-string='    '
-
-
-[MISCELLANEOUS]
-
-# List of note tags to take in consideration, separated by a comma.
-notes=FIXME,XXX,TODO
-
-
-[SIMILARITIES]
-
-# Minimum lines number of a similarity.
-min-similarity-lines=4
-
-# Ignore comments when computing similarities.
-ignore-comments=yes
-
-# Ignore docstrings when computing similarities.
-ignore-docstrings=yes
-
-# Ignore imports when computing similarities.
-ignore-imports=no
-
-
-[TYPECHECK]
-
-# Tells whether missing members accessed in mixin class should be ignored. A
-# mixin class is detected if its name ends with "mixin" (case insensitive).
-ignore-mixin-members=yes
-
-# List of classes names for which member attributes should not be checked
-# (useful for classes with attributes dynamically set).
-ignored-classes=SQLObject
-
-# When zope mode is activated, add a predefined set of Zope acquired attributes
-# to generated-members.
-zope=no
-
-# List of members which are set dynamically and missed by pylint inference
-# system, and so shouldn't trigger E0201 when accessed. Python regular
-# expressions are accepted.
-generated-members=REQUEST,acl_users,aq_parent
-
-
-[VARIABLES]
-
-# Tells whether we should check for unused import in __init__ files.
-init-import=no
-
-# A regular expression matching the beginning of the name of dummy variables
-# (i.e. not used).
-dummy-variables-rgx=_$|dummy
-
-# List of additional names supposed to be defined in builtins. Remember that
-# you should avoid to define new builtins when possible.
-additional-builtins=
-
-
-[CLASSES]
-
-# List of interface methods to ignore, separated by a comma. This is used for
-# instance to not check methods defines in Zope's Interface base class.
-ignore-iface-methods=isImplementedBy,deferred,extends,names,namesAndDescriptions,queryDescriptionFor,getBases,getDescriptionFor,getDoc,getName,getTaggedValue,getTaggedValueTags,isEqualOrExtendedBy,setTaggedValue,isImplementedByInstancesOf,adaptWith,is_implemented_by
-
-# List of method names used to declare (i.e. assign) instance attributes.
-defining-attr-methods=__init__,__new__,setUp
-
-# List of valid names for the first argument in a class method.
-valid-classmethod-first-arg=cls
-
-# List of valid names for the first argument in a metaclass class method.
-valid-metaclass-classmethod-first-arg=mcs
-
-
-[DESIGN]
-
-# Maximum number of arguments for function / method
-max-args=5
-
-# Argument names that match this expression will be ignored. Default to name
-# with leading underscore
-ignored-argument-names=_.*
-
-# Maximum number of locals for function / method body
-max-locals=15
-
-# Maximum number of return / yield for function / method body
-max-returns=6
-
-# Maximum number of branch for function / method body
-max-branches=12
-
-# Maximum number of statements in function / method body
-max-statements=50
-
-# Maximum number of parents for a class (see R0901).
-max-parents=7
-
-# Maximum number of attributes for a class (see R0902).
-max-attributes=7
-
-# Minimum number of public methods for a class (see R0903).
-min-public-methods=2
-
-# Maximum number of public methods for a class (see R0904).
-max-public-methods=20
-
-
-[IMPORTS]
-
-# Deprecated modules which should not be used, separated by a comma
-deprecated-modules=regsub,TERMIOS,Bastion,rexec
-
-# Create a graph of every (i.e. internal and external) dependencies in the
-# given file (report RP0402 must not be disabled)
-import-graph=
-
-# Create a graph of external dependencies in the given file (report RP0402 must
-# not be disabled)
-ext-import-graph=
-
-# Create a graph of internal dependencies in the given file (report RP0402 must
-# not be disabled)
-int-import-graph=
-
-
-[EXCEPTIONS]
-
-# Exceptions that will emit a warning when being caught. Defaults to
-# "Exception"
-overgeneral-exceptions=Exception