diff --git a/contrib/cpp/src/python/pants/contrib/cpp/register.py b/contrib/cpp/src/python/pants/contrib/cpp/register.py
index 223925f00fb..5cf51541ebf 100644
--- a/contrib/cpp/src/python/pants/contrib/cpp/register.py
+++ b/contrib/cpp/src/python/pants/contrib/cpp/register.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ def build_file_aliases():
   )
 
 def register_goals():
-  task(name='cpp-compile', action=CppCompile).install('compile')
-  task(name='cpp-library', action=CppLibraryCreate).install('binary')
-  task(name='cpp-binary', action=CppBinaryCreate).install('binary')
-  task(name='cpp-run', action=CppRun).install('run')
+  task(name='cpp', action=CppCompile).install('compile')
+  task(name='cpplib', action=CppLibraryCreate).install('binary')
+  task(name='cpp', action=CppBinaryCreate).install('binary')
+  task(name='cpp', action=CppRun).install('run')
diff --git a/contrib/cpp/src/python/pants/contrib/cpp/tasks/cpp_compile.py b/contrib/cpp/src/python/pants/contrib/cpp/tasks/cpp_compile.py
index 8a1e7e40d5a..86ffaf1fd11 100644
--- a/contrib/cpp/src/python/pants/contrib/cpp/tasks/cpp_compile.py
+++ b/contrib/cpp/src/python/pants/contrib/cpp/tasks/cpp_compile.py
@@ -14,17 +14,17 @@
 
 
 class CppCompile(CppTask):
-  """Compiles object files from C++ sources."""
+  """Compile C++ sources into object files."""
 
   @classmethod
   def register_options(cls, register):
     super(CppCompile, cls).register_options(register)
-    register('--cc-options',
+    register('--cc-options', advanced=True, action='append', default=[], fingerprint=True,
              help='Append these options to the compiler command line.')
-    register('--cc-extensions',
-             default=['cc', 'cxx', 'cpp'],
-             help=('The list of extensions (without the .) to consider when '
-                   'determining if a file is a C++ source file.'))
+    register('--cc-extensions', advanced=True, action='append', fingerprint=True,
+             default=['.cc', '.cxx', '.cpp'],
+             help=('The list of extensions to consider when determining if a file is a '
+                   'C++ source file.'))
 
   @classmethod
   def product_types(cls):
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ def execute(self):
 
     def is_cc(source):
       _, ext = os.path.splitext(source)
-      return ext[1:] in self.get_options().cc_extensions
+      return ext in self.get_options().cc_extensions
 
     targets = self.context.targets(self.is_cpp)
 
@@ -84,8 +84,7 @@ def _compile(self, target, results_dir, source):
     cmd.extend(['-c'])
     cmd.extend(('-I{0}'.format(i) for i in include_dirs))
     cmd.extend(['-o' + obj, abs_source])
-    if self.get_options().cc_options != None:
-      cmd.extend([self.get_options().cc_options])
+    cmd.extend(self.get_options().cc_options)
 
     # TODO: submit_async_work with self.run_command, [(cmd)] as a Work object.
     with self.context.new_workunit(name='cpp-compile', labels=[WorkUnit.COMPILER]) as workunit:
diff --git a/contrib/cpp/src/python/pants/contrib/cpp/tasks/cpp_task.py b/contrib/cpp/src/python/pants/contrib/cpp/tasks/cpp_task.py
index 1cadceb24d0..f776b1fb455 100644
--- a/contrib/cpp/src/python/pants/contrib/cpp/tasks/cpp_task.py
+++ b/contrib/cpp/src/python/pants/contrib/cpp/tasks/cpp_task.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ def is_binary(target):
   @classmethod
   def register_options(cls, register):
     super(CppTask, cls).register_options(register)
-    register('--compiler',
+    register('--compiler', advanced=True, fingerprint=True,
              help='Set a specific compiler to use (eg, g++-4.8, clang++)')
 
   def execute(self):
diff --git a/migrations/options/src/python/migrate_config.py b/migrations/options/src/python/migrate_config.py
index cae81e2e9c0..aac5833b91b 100644
--- a/migrations/options/src/python/migrate_config.py
+++ b/migrations/options/src/python/migrate_config.py
@@ -255,6 +255,9 @@
   ('compile.zinc-java', 'enabled'): ('compile.java', 'use-jmake'),
 
   ('compile.scala', 'args'): ('compile.zinc', 'args'),
+
+  ('compile.cpp-compile', 'cc_options'): ('compile.cpp', 'cc_options'),
+  ('compile.cpp-compile', 'cc_extensions'): ('compile.cpp', 'cc_extensions'),
 }
 
 ng_daemons_note = ('The global "ng_daemons" option has been replaced by a "use_nailgun" option '
@@ -352,6 +355,11 @@
                                     'to "disable jmake for java", more precisely, instead of '
                                     '--compile-zinc-java-enabled, use --no-compile-java-use-jmake',
   ('compile.scala', 'args'): 'ALL `compile.scala` options have moved to `compile.zinc`.',
+
+  ('compile.cpp-compile', 'cc_options'): 'Value used to be a string, is now a list.',
+  ('compile.cpp-compile', 'cc_extensions'): 'Value used to be a string (but default was a list), '
+                                            'is now a list. Values also now include the dot, e.g.,'
+                                            'it\'s now .cpp, not cpp.',
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/checkstyle.py b/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/checkstyle.py
index 0e7e7d121c7..0fcfa9d0f40 100644
--- a/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/checkstyle.py
+++ b/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/checkstyle.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 
 
 class Checkstyle(NailgunTask):
+  """Check Java code for style violations."""
 
   _CHECKSTYLE_MAIN = 'com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.Main'
 
@@ -30,14 +31,13 @@ def register_options(cls, register):
     super(Checkstyle, cls).register_options(register)
     register('--skip', action='store_true', fingerprint=True,
              help='Skip checkstyle.')
-    register('--configuration', type=file_option, fingerprint=True,
+    register('--configuration', advanced=True, type=file_option, fingerprint=True,
              help='Path to the checkstyle configuration file.')
-    register('--properties', type=dict_option, default={}, fingerprint=True,
+    register('--properties', advanced=True, type=dict_option, default={}, fingerprint=True,
              help='Dictionary of property mappings to use for checkstyle.properties.')
-    register('--confs', default=['default'],
-             help='One or more ivy configurations to resolve for this target. This parameter is '
-                  'not intended for general use. ')
-    register('--jvm-options', action='append', metavar='<option>...', advanced=True,
+    register('--confs', advanced=True, default=['default'],
+             help='One or more ivy configurations to resolve for this target.')
+    register('--jvm-options', advanced=True, action='append', metavar='<option>...',
              help='Run checkstyle with these extra jvm options.')
     cls.register_jvm_tool(register,
                           'checkstyle',
diff --git a/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/java/apt_compile.py b/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/java/apt_compile.py
index 5dab296f305..7bfcbce653c 100644
--- a/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/java/apt_compile.py
+++ b/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/java/apt_compile.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 
 
 class AptCompile(JmakeCompile):
+  """Compile Java annotation processors."""
     # Well known metadata file to auto-register annotation processors with a java 1.6+ compiler
   _PROCESSOR_INFO_FILE = 'META-INF/services/javax.annotation.processing.Processor'
 
diff --git a/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/java/java_compile.py b/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/java/java_compile.py
index de1cf8ac369..80471ee754e 100644
--- a/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/java/java_compile.py
+++ b/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/java/java_compile.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
 
 
 class JmakeCompile(JvmCompile):
-  """Compile Java code with JMake."""
+  """Compile Java code using JMake."""
   _name = 'java'
   _file_suffix = '.java'
   _supports_concurrent_execution = False
@@ -72,7 +72,8 @@ def get_no_warning_args_default(cls):
   @classmethod
   def register_options(cls, register):
     super(JmakeCompile, cls).register_options(register)
-    register('--use-jmake', action='store_true', default=True, help='Use jmake to compile Java targets')
+    register('--use-jmake', advanced=True, action='store_true', default=True,
+             help='Use jmake to compile Java targets')
     register('--source', advanced=True, fingerprint=True,
              help='Provide source compatibility with this release. Overrides the jvm platform '
                   'source.',
diff --git a/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/jvm_compile.py b/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/jvm_compile.py
index 35bb56287e7..0a753b33568 100644
--- a/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/jvm_compile.py
+++ b/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/jvm_compile.py
@@ -32,44 +32,45 @@ class JvmCompile(NailgunTaskBase, GroupMember):
   @classmethod
   def register_options(cls, register):
     super(JvmCompile, cls).register_options(register)
-    register('--partition-size-hint', type=int, default=sys.maxint, metavar='<# source files>',
+    register('--partition-size-hint', advanced=True, type=int, default=sys.maxint,
+             metavar='<# source files>',
              help='Roughly how many source files to attempt to compile together. Set to a large '
                   'number to compile all sources together. Set to 0 to compile target-by-target.')
 
-    register('--jvm-options', type=list_option, default=[],
+    register('--jvm-options', advanced=True, type=list_option, default=[],
              help='Run the compiler with these JVM options.')
 
-    register('--args', action='append',
+    register('--args', advanced=True, action='append',
              default=list(cls.get_args_default(register.bootstrap)), fingerprint=True,
              help='Pass these args to the compiler.')
 
-    register('--confs', type=list_option, default=['default'],
+    register('--confs', advanced=True, type=list_option, default=['default'],
              help='Compile for these Ivy confs.')
 
     # TODO: Stale analysis should be automatically ignored via Task identities:
     # https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/issues/1351
-    register('--clear-invalid-analysis', default=False, action='store_true',
-             advanced=True,
+    register('--clear-invalid-analysis', advanced=True, default=False, action='store_true',
              help='When set, any invalid/incompatible analysis files will be deleted '
                   'automatically.  When unset, an error is raised instead.')
 
     register('--warnings', default=True, action='store_true',
              help='Compile with all configured warnings enabled.')
 
-    register('--warning-args', action='append', default=list(cls.get_warning_args_default()),
-             advanced=True,
+    register('--warning-args', advanced=True, action='append',
+             default=list(cls.get_warning_args_default()),
              help='Extra compiler args to use when warnings are enabled.')
 
-    register('--no-warning-args', action='append', default=list(cls.get_no_warning_args_default()),
-             advanced=True,
+    register('--no-warning-args', advanced=True, action='append',
+             default=list(cls.get_no_warning_args_default()),
              help='Extra compiler args to use when warnings are disabled.')
 
-    register('--strategy', choices=['global', 'isolated'], default='global', fingerprint=True,
+    register('--strategy', advanced=True, choices=['global', 'isolated'], default='global',
+             fingerprint=True,
              help='Selects the compilation strategy to use. The "global" strategy uses a shared '
                   'global classpath for all compiled classes, and the "isolated" strategy uses '
                   'per-target classpaths.')
 
-    register('--delete-scratch', default=True, action='store_true',
+    register('--delete-scratch', advanced=True, default=True, action='store_true',
              help='Leave intermediate scratch files around, for debugging build problems.')
 
     JvmCompileGlobalStrategy.register_options(register, cls._name, cls._supports_concurrent_execution)
diff --git a/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/jvm_compile_global_strategy.py b/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/jvm_compile_global_strategy.py
index 3ef0fb9252a..c6f3b09700b 100644
--- a/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/jvm_compile_global_strategy.py
+++ b/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/jvm_compile_global_strategy.py
@@ -35,33 +35,37 @@ class InternalTargetPartitioningError(Exception):
 
   @classmethod
   def register_options(cls, register, compile_task_name, supports_concurrent_execution):
-    register('--missing-deps', choices=['off', 'warn', 'fatal'], default='warn',
-             help='Check for missing dependencies in code compiled with {0}. Reports actual dependencies A -> B '
-                  'where there is no transitive BUILD file dependency path from A to B. If fatal, '
-                  'missing deps are treated as a build error.'.format(compile_task_name))
-
-    register('--missing-direct-deps', choices=['off', 'warn', 'fatal'], default='off',
-             help='Check for missing direct dependencies in code compiled with {0}. Reports actual dependencies '
-                  'A -> B where there is no direct BUILD file dependency path from A to B. This is '
-                  'a very strict check; In practice it is common to rely on transitive, indirect '
-                  'dependencies, e.g., due to type inference or when the main target in a BUILD '
-                  'file is modified to depend on other targets in the same BUILD file, as an '
-                  'implementation detail. However it may still be useful to use this on '
-                  'occasion. '.format(compile_task_name))
-
-    register('--missing-deps-whitelist', type=list_option,
+    register('--missing-deps', advanced=True, choices=['off', 'warn', 'fatal'], default='warn',
+             help='Check for missing dependencies in code compiled with {0}. Reports actual '
+                  'dependencies A -> B where there is no transitive BUILD file dependency path '
+                  'from A to B. If fatal, missing deps are treated as a build error.'.format(
+               compile_task_name))
+
+    register('--missing-direct-deps', advanced=True, choices=['off', 'warn', 'fatal'],
+             default='off',
+             help='Check for missing direct dependencies in code compiled with {0}. Reports actual '
+                  'dependencies A -> B where there is no direct BUILD file dependency path from '
+                  'A to B. This is a very strict check; In practice it is common to rely on '
+                  'transitive, indirect dependencies, e.g., due to type inference or when the main '
+                  'target in a BUILD file is modified to depend on other targets in the same BUILD '
+                  'file, as an implementation detail. However it may still be useful to use this '
+                  'on occasion. '.format(compile_task_name))
+
+    register('--missing-deps-whitelist', advanced=True, type=list_option,
              help="Don't report these targets even if they have missing deps.")
 
-    register('--unnecessary-deps', choices=['off', 'warn', 'fatal'], default='off',
-             help='Check for declared dependencies in code compiled with {0} that are not needed. This is a very '
-                  'strict check. For example, generated code will often legitimately have BUILD '
-                  'dependencies that are unused in practice.'.format(compile_task_name))
+    register('--unnecessary-deps', advanced=True, choices=['off', 'warn', 'fatal'], default='off',
+             help='Check for declared dependencies in code compiled with {0} that are not needed. '
+                  'This is a very strict check. For example, generated code will often '
+                  'legitimately have BUILD dependencies that are unused in practice.'.format(
+               compile_task_name))
 
-    register('--changed-targets-heuristic-limit', type=int, default=0,
+    register('--changed-targets-heuristic-limit', advanced=True, type=int, default=0,
              help='If non-zero, and we have fewer than this number of locally-changed targets, '
                   'partition them separately, to preserve stability when compiling repeatedly.')
 
-  def __init__(self, context, options, workdir, analysis_tools, compile_task_name, sources_predicate):
+  def __init__(self, context, options, workdir, analysis_tools, compile_task_name,
+               sources_predicate):
     super(JvmCompileGlobalStrategy, self).__init__(context, options, workdir, analysis_tools,
                                                    compile_task_name, sources_predicate)
 
@@ -144,7 +148,8 @@ def pre_compile(self):
       self.validate_analysis(f)
 
   def prepare_compile(self, cache_manager, all_targets, relevant_targets):
-    super(JvmCompileGlobalStrategy, self).prepare_compile(cache_manager, all_targets, relevant_targets)
+    super(JvmCompileGlobalStrategy, self).prepare_compile(cache_manager, all_targets,
+                                                          relevant_targets)
 
     # Update the classpath for us and for downstream tasks.
     compile_classpaths = self.context.products.get_data('compile_classpath')
@@ -623,7 +628,7 @@ def _record_previous_sources_by_target(self, target, sources):
     with open(os.path.join(self._target_sources_dir, target.identifier), 'w') as outfile:
       for src in sources:
         outfile.write(os.path.join(get_buildroot(), src))
-        outfile.write('\n')
+        outfile.write(b'\n')
 
   def _compute_deleted_sources(self):
     """Computes the list of sources present in the last analysis that have since been deleted.
diff --git a/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/jvm_compile_isolated_strategy.py b/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/jvm_compile_isolated_strategy.py
index 51ccf2c73f5..3dd2796b29c 100644
--- a/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/jvm_compile_isolated_strategy.py
+++ b/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/jvm_compile_isolated_strategy.py
@@ -27,13 +27,14 @@ class JvmCompileIsolatedStrategy(JvmCompileStrategy):
   @classmethod
   def register_options(cls, register, compile_task_name, supports_concurrent_execution):
     if supports_concurrent_execution:
-      register('--worker-count', type=int, default=1, advanced=True,
-               help='The number of concurrent workers to use compiling with {task} with the isolated'
-                    ' strategy.'.format(task=compile_task_name))
-    register('--capture-log', action='store_true', default=False, advanced=True,
+      register('--worker-count', advanced=True, type=int, default=1,
+               help='The number of concurrent workers to use compiling with {task} with the '
+                    'isolated strategy.'.format(task=compile_task_name))
+    register('--capture-log', advanced=True, action='store_true', default=False,
             help='Capture compilation output to per-target logs.')
 
-  def __init__(self, context, options, workdir, analysis_tools, compile_task_name, sources_predicate):
+  def __init__(self, context, options, workdir, analysis_tools, compile_task_name,
+               sources_predicate):
     super(JvmCompileIsolatedStrategy, self).__init__(context, options, workdir, analysis_tools,
                                                      compile_task_name, sources_predicate)
 
diff --git a/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/jvm_compile_strategy.py b/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/jvm_compile_strategy.py
index 2c8271cd403..dd34f0346ba 100644
--- a/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/jvm_compile_strategy.py
+++ b/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/jvm_compile_strategy.py
@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@ def register_options(cls, register, compile_task_name, supports_concurrent_execu
     The abstract base class does not register any options itself: those are left to JvmCompile.
     """
 
-  def __init__(self, context, options, workdir, analysis_tools, compile_task_name, sources_predicate):
+  def __init__(self, context, options, workdir, analysis_tools, compile_task_name,
+               sources_predicate):
     self._compile_task_name = compile_task_name
     self.context = context
     self._analysis_tools = analysis_tools
@@ -114,8 +115,7 @@ def compile_chunk(self,
                     extra_compile_time_classpath_elements,
                     compile_vts,
                     register_vts,
-                    update_artifact_cache_vts_work,
-                    settings):
+                    update_artifact_cache_vts_work):
     """Executes compilations for that invalid targets contained in a single language chunk."""
 
   @abstractmethod
diff --git a/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/scala/zinc_compile.py b/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/scala/zinc_compile.py
index cb5af1faf74..bf4410d04dc 100644
--- a/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/scala/zinc_compile.py
+++ b/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/jvm_compile/scala/zinc_compile.py
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@
 
 
 class ZincCompile(JvmCompile):
+  """Compile Scala and Java code using Zinc."""
+
   _ZINC_MAIN = 'org.pantsbuild.zinc.Main'
 
   _name = 'zinc'
@@ -69,11 +71,11 @@ def get_no_warning_args_default(cls):
   @classmethod
   def register_options(cls, register):
     super(ZincCompile, cls).register_options(register)
-    register('--plugins', action='append', fingerprint=True,
+    register('--plugins', advanced=True, action='append', fingerprint=True,
              help='Use these scalac plugins.')
     register('--plugin-args', advanced=True, type=dict_option, default={}, fingerprint=True,
              help='Map from plugin name to list of arguments for that plugin.')
-    register('--name-hashing', action='store_true', default=False, fingerprint=True,
+    register('--name-hashing', advanced=True, action='store_true', default=False, fingerprint=True,
              help='Use zinc name hashing.')
 
     cls.register_jvm_tool(register,
diff --git a/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/nailgun_task.py b/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/nailgun_task.py
index e0949c5d040..8bfd95c8708 100644
--- a/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/nailgun_task.py
+++ b/src/python/pants/backend/jvm/tasks/nailgun_task.py
@@ -25,8 +25,10 @@ def register_options(cls, register):
     cls.register_jvm_tool(register, 'nailgun-server')
     register('--use-nailgun', action='store_true', default=True,
              help='Use nailgun to make repeated invocations of this task quicker.')
-    register('--nailgun-timeout-seconds', default=10, help='Timeout (secs) for nailgun startup.')
-    register('--nailgun-connect-attempts', default=5, help='Max attempts for nailgun connects.')
+    register('--nailgun-timeout-seconds', advanced=True, default=10,
+             help='Timeout (secs) for nailgun startup.')
+    register('--nailgun-connect-attempts', advanced=True, default=5,
+             help='Max attempts for nailgun connects.')
 
   def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
     super(NailgunTaskBase, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)