diff --git a/src/backends/gr.jl b/src/backends/gr.jl
index 0f2a959b..cd9c0158 100644
--- a/src/backends/gr.jl
+++ b/src/backends/gr.jl
@@ -706,7 +706,7 @@ function gr_display(sp::Subplot{GRBackend}, w, h, viewport_canvas)
                         rotation = sp[:xaxis][:rotation])
             for (cv, dv) in zip(xticks...)
                 # use xor ($) to get the right y coords
-                xi, yi = GR.wctondc(cv, (flip $ mirror) ? ymax : ymin)
+                xi, yi = GR.wctondc(cv, xor(flip, mirror) ? ymax : ymin)
                 # @show cv dv ymin xi yi flip mirror (flip $ mirror)
                 gr_text(xi, yi + (mirror ? 1 : -1) * 5e-3, string(dv))
             end
@@ -723,7 +723,7 @@ function gr_display(sp::Subplot{GRBackend}, w, h, viewport_canvas)
                         rotation = sp[:yaxis][:rotation])
             for (cv, dv) in zip(yticks...)
                 # use xor ($) to get the right y coords
-                xi, yi = GR.wctondc((flip $ mirror) ? xmax : xmin, cv)
+                xi, yi = GR.wctondc(xor(flip, mirror) ? xmax : xmin, cv)
                 # @show cv dv xmin xi yi
                 gr_text(xi + (mirror ? 1 : -1) * 1e-2, yi, string(dv))
             end
diff --git a/src/components.jl b/src/components.jl
index 6a935c95..8a78c9f5 100644
--- a/src/components.jl
+++ b/src/components.jl
@@ -507,7 +507,7 @@ end
 
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-abstract AbstractSurface
+abstract type AbstractSurface end
 
 "represents a contour or surface mesh"
 immutable Surface{M<:AMat} <: AbstractSurface
diff --git a/src/deprecated/colors.jl b/src/deprecated/colors.jl
index ebc75222..f73d5db6 100644
--- a/src/deprecated/colors.jl
+++ b/src/deprecated/colors.jl
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 
-abstract ColorScheme
+abstract type ColorScheme end
 
 Base.getindex(scheme::ColorScheme, i::Integer) = getColor(scheme, i)
 
diff --git a/src/series.jl b/src/series.jl
index f1ee5739..ca520168 100644
--- a/src/series.jl
+++ b/src/series.jl
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 # This should cut down on boilerplate code and allow more focused dispatch on type
 # note: returns meta information... mainly for use with automatic labeling from DataFrames for now
 
-typealias FuncOrFuncs{F} Union{F, Vector{F}, Matrix{F}}
+const FuncOrFuncs{F} = Union{F, Vector{F}, Matrix{F}}
 
 all3D(d::KW) = trueOrAllTrue(st -> st in (:contour, :contourf, :heatmap, :surface, :wireframe, :contour3d, :image), get(d, :seriestype, :none))
 
@@ -318,7 +318,7 @@ end
 
 @recipe function f{T<:Colorant}(mat::AMat{T})
 	n, m = size(mat)
-	
+
     if is_seriestype_supported(:image)
         seriestype := :image
         SliceIt, 1:m, 1:n, Surface(mat)
diff --git a/src/subplots.jl b/src/subplots.jl
index 924cc6c0..ccd1478c 100644
--- a/src/subplots.jl
+++ b/src/subplots.jl
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ get_subplot(plt::Plot, k) = plt.spmap[k]
 get_subplot(series::Series) = series.d[:subplot]
 
 get_subplot_index(plt::Plot, idx::Integer) = Int(idx)
-get_subplot_index(plt::Plot, sp::Subplot) = findfirst(_ -> _ === sp, plt.subplots)
+get_subplot_index(plt::Plot, sp::Subplot) = findfirst(x -> x === sp, plt.subplots)
 
 series_list(sp::Subplot) = sp.series_list # filter(series -> series.d[:subplot] === sp, sp.plt.series_list)
 
diff --git a/src/types.jl b/src/types.jl
index 284b6534..06ddb065 100644
--- a/src/types.jl
+++ b/src/types.jl
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ const KW = Dict{Symbol,Any}
 
 immutable PlotsDisplay <: Display end
 
-abstract AbstractBackend
-abstract AbstractPlot{T<:AbstractBackend}
-abstract AbstractLayout
+abstract type AbstractBackend end
+abstract type AbstractPlot{T<:AbstractBackend} end
+abstract type AbstractLayout end
 
 # -----------------------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/src/utils.jl b/src/utils.jl
index bc133c7a..1de784e1 100644
--- a/src/utils.jl
+++ b/src/utils.jl
@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@ ok(tup::Tuple) = ok(tup...)
 # compute one side of a fill range from a ribbon
 function make_fillrange_side(y, rib)
     frs = zeros(length(y))
-    for (i, (yi, ri)) in enumerate(zip(y, Base.cycle(rib)))
+    for (i, (yi, ri)) in enumerate(zip(y, Base.Iterators.cycle(rib)))
         frs[i] = yi + ri
     end
     frs