diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 4e9a2d3..26140a3 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ before_install:
   source venv/bin/activate
 install:
   - cmake similarity_search && make -j 4
-  - travis_wait travis_retry pip install -r python_bindings/requirements.txt scipy six
+  - travis_wait travis_retry pip install -r python_bindings/requirements.txt scipy six flake8
   - travis_retry cd python_bindings && python setup.py build install && cd ..
 
 script:
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ script:
   fi
   cd python_bindings
   python setup.py test
+  flake8
   cd ..
 cache:
   - apt
diff --git a/python_bindings/docs/Makefile b/python_bindings/docs/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..47a6693
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python_bindings/docs/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,216 @@
+# Makefile for Sphinx documentation
+#
+
+# You can set these variables from the command line.
+SPHINXOPTS    =
+SPHINXBUILD   = sphinx-build
+PAPER         =
+BUILDDIR      = _build
+
+# User-friendly check for sphinx-build
+ifeq ($(shell which $(SPHINXBUILD) >/dev/null 2>&1; echo $$?), 1)
+$(error The '$(SPHINXBUILD)' command was not found. Make sure you have Sphinx installed, then set the SPHINXBUILD environment variable to point to the full path of the '$(SPHINXBUILD)' executable. Alternatively you can add the directory with the executable to your PATH. If you don't have Sphinx installed, grab it from http://sphinx-doc.org/)
+endif
+
+# Internal variables.
+PAPEROPT_a4     = -D latex_paper_size=a4
+PAPEROPT_letter = -D latex_paper_size=letter
+ALLSPHINXOPTS   = -d $(BUILDDIR)/doctrees $(PAPEROPT_$(PAPER)) $(SPHINXOPTS) .
+# the i18n builder cannot share the environment and doctrees with the others
+I18NSPHINXOPTS  = $(PAPEROPT_$(PAPER)) $(SPHINXOPTS) .
+
+.PHONY: help
+help:
+	@echo "Please use \`make <target>' where <target> is one of"
+	@echo "  html       to make standalone HTML files"
+	@echo "  dirhtml    to make HTML files named index.html in directories"
+	@echo "  singlehtml to make a single large HTML file"
+	@echo "  pickle     to make pickle files"
+	@echo "  json       to make JSON files"
+	@echo "  htmlhelp   to make HTML files and a HTML help project"
+	@echo "  qthelp     to make HTML files and a qthelp project"
+	@echo "  applehelp  to make an Apple Help Book"
+	@echo "  devhelp    to make HTML files and a Devhelp project"
+	@echo "  epub       to make an epub"
+	@echo "  latex      to make LaTeX files, you can set PAPER=a4 or PAPER=letter"
+	@echo "  latexpdf   to make LaTeX files and run them through pdflatex"
+	@echo "  latexpdfja to make LaTeX files and run them through platex/dvipdfmx"
+	@echo "  text       to make text files"
+	@echo "  man        to make manual pages"
+	@echo "  texinfo    to make Texinfo files"
+	@echo "  info       to make Texinfo files and run them through makeinfo"
+	@echo "  gettext    to make PO message catalogs"
+	@echo "  changes    to make an overview of all changed/added/deprecated items"
+	@echo "  xml        to make Docutils-native XML files"
+	@echo "  pseudoxml  to make pseudoxml-XML files for display purposes"
+	@echo "  linkcheck  to check all external links for integrity"
+	@echo "  doctest    to run all doctests embedded in the documentation (if enabled)"
+	@echo "  coverage   to run coverage check of the documentation (if enabled)"
+
+.PHONY: clean
+clean:
+	rm -rf $(BUILDDIR)/*
+
+.PHONY: html
+html:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b html $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/html
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished. The HTML pages are in $(BUILDDIR)/html."
+
+.PHONY: dirhtml
+dirhtml:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b dirhtml $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/dirhtml
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished. The HTML pages are in $(BUILDDIR)/dirhtml."
+
+.PHONY: singlehtml
+singlehtml:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b singlehtml $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/singlehtml
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished. The HTML page is in $(BUILDDIR)/singlehtml."
+
+.PHONY: pickle
+pickle:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b pickle $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/pickle
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished; now you can process the pickle files."
+
+.PHONY: json
+json:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b json $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/json
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished; now you can process the JSON files."
+
+.PHONY: htmlhelp
+htmlhelp:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b htmlhelp $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/htmlhelp
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished; now you can run HTML Help Workshop with the" \
+	      ".hhp project file in $(BUILDDIR)/htmlhelp."
+
+.PHONY: qthelp
+qthelp:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b qthelp $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/qthelp
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished; now you can run "qcollectiongenerator" with the" \
+	      ".qhcp project file in $(BUILDDIR)/qthelp, like this:"
+	@echo "# qcollectiongenerator $(BUILDDIR)/qthelp/nmslib.qhcp"
+	@echo "To view the help file:"
+	@echo "# assistant -collectionFile $(BUILDDIR)/qthelp/nmslib.qhc"
+
+.PHONY: applehelp
+applehelp:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b applehelp $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/applehelp
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished. The help book is in $(BUILDDIR)/applehelp."
+	@echo "N.B. You won't be able to view it unless you put it in" \
+	      "~/Library/Documentation/Help or install it in your application" \
+	      "bundle."
+
+.PHONY: devhelp
+devhelp:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b devhelp $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/devhelp
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished."
+	@echo "To view the help file:"
+	@echo "# mkdir -p $$HOME/.local/share/devhelp/nmslib"
+	@echo "# ln -s $(BUILDDIR)/devhelp $$HOME/.local/share/devhelp/nmslib"
+	@echo "# devhelp"
+
+.PHONY: epub
+epub:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b epub $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/epub
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished. The epub file is in $(BUILDDIR)/epub."
+
+.PHONY: latex
+latex:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b latex $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/latex
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished; the LaTeX files are in $(BUILDDIR)/latex."
+	@echo "Run \`make' in that directory to run these through (pdf)latex" \
+	      "(use \`make latexpdf' here to do that automatically)."
+
+.PHONY: latexpdf
+latexpdf:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b latex $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/latex
+	@echo "Running LaTeX files through pdflatex..."
+	$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDDIR)/latex all-pdf
+	@echo "pdflatex finished; the PDF files are in $(BUILDDIR)/latex."
+
+.PHONY: latexpdfja
+latexpdfja:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b latex $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/latex
+	@echo "Running LaTeX files through platex and dvipdfmx..."
+	$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDDIR)/latex all-pdf-ja
+	@echo "pdflatex finished; the PDF files are in $(BUILDDIR)/latex."
+
+.PHONY: text
+text:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b text $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/text
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished. The text files are in $(BUILDDIR)/text."
+
+.PHONY: man
+man:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b man $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/man
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished. The manual pages are in $(BUILDDIR)/man."
+
+.PHONY: texinfo
+texinfo:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b texinfo $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/texinfo
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished. The Texinfo files are in $(BUILDDIR)/texinfo."
+	@echo "Run \`make' in that directory to run these through makeinfo" \
+	      "(use \`make info' here to do that automatically)."
+
+.PHONY: info
+info:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b texinfo $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/texinfo
+	@echo "Running Texinfo files through makeinfo..."
+	make -C $(BUILDDIR)/texinfo info
+	@echo "makeinfo finished; the Info files are in $(BUILDDIR)/texinfo."
+
+.PHONY: gettext
+gettext:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b gettext $(I18NSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/locale
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished. The message catalogs are in $(BUILDDIR)/locale."
+
+.PHONY: changes
+changes:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b changes $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/changes
+	@echo
+	@echo "The overview file is in $(BUILDDIR)/changes."
+
+.PHONY: linkcheck
+linkcheck:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b linkcheck $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/linkcheck
+	@echo
+	@echo "Link check complete; look for any errors in the above output " \
+	      "or in $(BUILDDIR)/linkcheck/output.txt."
+
+.PHONY: doctest
+doctest:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b doctest $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/doctest
+	@echo "Testing of doctests in the sources finished, look at the " \
+	      "results in $(BUILDDIR)/doctest/output.txt."
+
+.PHONY: coverage
+coverage:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b coverage $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/coverage
+	@echo "Testing of coverage in the sources finished, look at the " \
+	      "results in $(BUILDDIR)/coverage/python.txt."
+
+.PHONY: xml
+xml:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b xml $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/xml
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished. The XML files are in $(BUILDDIR)/xml."
+
+.PHONY: pseudoxml
+pseudoxml:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b pseudoxml $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/pseudoxml
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished. The pseudo-XML files are in $(BUILDDIR)/pseudoxml."
diff --git a/python_bindings/docs/api.rst b/python_bindings/docs/api.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ef91ce4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python_bindings/docs/api.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+API Reference
+=============
+
+nmslib.init
+-----------
+
+This function acts act the main entry point into NMS lib. This 
+function should be called first before calling any other method.
+
+.. autofunction:: nmslib.init
+
+
+.. class:: nmslib.DistType
+
+    .. attribute:: FLOAT
+    .. attribute:: DOUBLE
+    .. attribute:: INT
+
+.. class:: nmslib.DataType
+
+    .. attribute:: DENSE_VECTOR
+    .. attribute:: OBJECT_AS_STRING
+    .. attribute:: SPARSE_VECTOR
+
+nmslib.FloatIndex
+-----------------
+
+nmslib.dist.FloatIndex
+
+.. autoclass:: nmslib.dist.FloatIndex
+   :members:
+
+nmslib.DoubleIndex
+------------------
+
+nmslib.dist.DoubleIndex
+
+.. autoclass:: nmslib.dist.DoubleIndex
+   :members:
+
+nmslib.IntIndex
+---------------
+
+nmslib.dist.IntIndex
+
+.. autoclass:: nmslib.dist.IntIndex
+   :members:
diff --git a/python_bindings/docs/conf.py b/python_bindings/docs/conf.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4901fcc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python_bindings/docs/conf.py
@@ -0,0 +1,289 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+#
+# nmslib documentation build configuration file, created by
+# sphinx-quickstart on Mon Aug  7 17:30:15 2017.
+#
+# This file is execfile()d with the current directory set to its
+# containing dir.
+#
+# Note that not all possible configuration values are present in this
+# autogenerated file.
+#
+# All configuration values have a default; values that are commented out
+# serve to show the default.
+
+import sys
+import os
+
+# If extensions (or modules to document with autodoc) are in another directory,
+# add these directories to sys.path here. If the directory is relative to the
+# documentation root, use os.path.abspath to make it absolute, like shown here.
+#sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath('.'))
+
+# -- General configuration ------------------------------------------------
+
+# If your documentation needs a minimal Sphinx version, state it here.
+#needs_sphinx = '1.0'
+
+# Add any Sphinx extension module names here, as strings. They can be
+# extensions coming with Sphinx (named 'sphinx.ext.*') or your custom
+# ones.
+extensions = [
+    'sphinx.ext.autodoc',
+    'sphinx.ext.napoleon',
+    'sphinx.ext.githubpages',
+]
+
+# Add any paths that contain templates here, relative to this directory.
+templates_path = ['_templates']
+
+# The suffix(es) of source filenames.
+# You can specify multiple suffix as a list of string:
+# source_suffix = ['.rst', '.md']
+source_suffix = '.rst'
+
+# The encoding of source files.
+#source_encoding = 'utf-8-sig'
+
+# The master toctree document.
+master_doc = 'index'
+
+# General information about the project.
+project = u'nmslib'
+copyright = u'2017, Bilegsaikhan Naidan, Leonid Boytsov, Yury Malkov. With contributions from David Novak, Lawrence Cayton, Wei Dong, Avrelin Nikita, Ben Frederickson, Dmitry Yashunin, Bob Poekert, @orgoro, Maxim Andreev, Daniel Lemire, Nathan Kurz, Alexander Ponomarenko.'
+author = u'Bilegsaikhan Naidan, Leonid Boytsov, Yury Malkov. With contributions from David Novak, Lawrence Cayton, Wei Dong, Avrelin Nikita, Ben Frederickson, Dmitry Yashunin, Bob Poekert, @orgoro, Maxim Andreev, Daniel Lemire, Nathan Kurz, Alexander Ponomarenko.'
+
+# The version info for the project you're documenting, acts as replacement for
+# |version| and |release|, also used in various other places throughout the
+# built documents.
+#
+# The short X.Y version.
+import nmslib  # noqa
+version = '.'.join(nmslib.__version__.split(".")[:2])
+
+# The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
+release = nmslib.__version__
+
+# The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
+# for a list of supported languages.
+#
+# This is also used if you do content translation via gettext catalogs.
+# Usually you set "language" from the command line for these cases.
+language = None
+
+# There are two options for replacing |today|: either, you set today to some
+# non-false value, then it is used:
+#today = ''
+# Else, today_fmt is used as the format for a strftime call.
+#today_fmt = '%B %d, %Y'
+
+# List of patterns, relative to source directory, that match files and
+# directories to ignore when looking for source files.
+exclude_patterns = ['_build']
+
+# The reST default role (used for this markup: `text`) to use for all
+# documents.
+#default_role = None
+
+# If true, '()' will be appended to :func: etc. cross-reference text.
+#add_function_parentheses = True
+
+# If true, the current module name will be prepended to all description
+# unit titles (such as .. function::).
+#add_module_names = True
+
+# If true, sectionauthor and moduleauthor directives will be shown in the
+# output. They are ignored by default.
+#show_authors = False
+
+# The name of the Pygments (syntax highlighting) style to use.
+pygments_style = 'sphinx'
+
+# A list of ignored prefixes for module index sorting.
+#modindex_common_prefix = []
+
+# If true, keep warnings as "system message" paragraphs in the built documents.
+#keep_warnings = False
+
+# If true, `todo` and `todoList` produce output, else they produce nothing.
+todo_include_todos = False
+
+
+# -- Options for HTML output ----------------------------------------------
+
+# The theme to use for HTML and HTML Help pages.  See the documentation for
+# a list of builtin themes.
+html_theme = 'sphinx_rtd_theme'
+
+# Theme options are theme-specific and customize the look and feel of a theme
+# further.  For a list of options available for each theme, see the
+# documentation.
+#html_theme_options = {}
+
+# Add any paths that contain custom themes here, relative to this directory.
+#html_theme_path = []
+
+# The name for this set of Sphinx documents.  If None, it defaults to
+# "<project> v<release> documentation".
+#html_title = None
+
+# A shorter title for the navigation bar.  Default is the same as html_title.
+#html_short_title = None
+
+# The name of an image file (relative to this directory) to place at the top
+# of the sidebar.
+#html_logo = None
+
+# The name of an image file (within the static path) to use as favicon of the
+# docs.  This file should be a Windows icon file (.ico) being 16x16 or 32x32
+# pixels large.
+#html_favicon = None
+
+# Add any paths that contain custom static files (such as style sheets) here,
+# relative to this directory. They are copied after the builtin static files,
+# so a file named "default.css" will overwrite the builtin "default.css".
+html_static_path = ['_static']
+
+# Add any extra paths that contain custom files (such as robots.txt or
+# .htaccess) here, relative to this directory. These files are copied
+# directly to the root of the documentation.
+#html_extra_path = []
+
+# If not '', a 'Last updated on:' timestamp is inserted at every page bottom,
+# using the given strftime format.
+#html_last_updated_fmt = '%b %d, %Y'
+
+# If true, SmartyPants will be used to convert quotes and dashes to
+# typographically correct entities.
+#html_use_smartypants = True
+
+# Custom sidebar templates, maps document names to template names.
+#html_sidebars = {}
+
+# Additional templates that should be rendered to pages, maps page names to
+# template names.
+#html_additional_pages = {}
+
+# If false, no module index is generated.
+#html_domain_indices = True
+
+# If false, no index is generated.
+#html_use_index = True
+
+# If true, the index is split into individual pages for each letter.
+#html_split_index = False
+
+# If true, links to the reST sources are added to the pages.
+#html_show_sourcelink = True
+
+# If true, "Created using Sphinx" is shown in the HTML footer. Default is True.
+#html_show_sphinx = True
+
+# If true, "(C) Copyright ..." is shown in the HTML footer. Default is True.
+#html_show_copyright = True
+
+# If true, an OpenSearch description file will be output, and all pages will
+# contain a <link> tag referring to it.  The value of this option must be the
+# base URL from which the finished HTML is served.
+#html_use_opensearch = ''
+
+# This is the file name suffix for HTML files (e.g. ".xhtml").
+#html_file_suffix = None
+
+# Language to be used for generating the HTML full-text search index.
+# Sphinx supports the following languages:
+#   'da', 'de', 'en', 'es', 'fi', 'fr', 'hu', 'it', 'ja'
+#   'nl', 'no', 'pt', 'ro', 'ru', 'sv', 'tr'
+#html_search_language = 'en'
+
+# A dictionary with options for the search language support, empty by default.
+# Now only 'ja' uses this config value
+#html_search_options = {'type': 'default'}
+
+# The name of a javascript file (relative to the configuration directory) that
+# implements a search results scorer. If empty, the default will be used.
+#html_search_scorer = 'scorer.js'
+
+# Output file base name for HTML help builder.
+htmlhelp_basename = 'nmslibdoc'
+
+# -- Options for LaTeX output ---------------------------------------------
+
+latex_elements = {
+# The paper size ('letterpaper' or 'a4paper').
+#'papersize': 'letterpaper',
+
+# The font size ('10pt', '11pt' or '12pt').
+#'pointsize': '10pt',
+
+# Additional stuff for the LaTeX preamble.
+#'preamble': '',
+
+# Latex figure (float) alignment
+#'figure_align': 'htbp',
+}
+
+# Grouping the document tree into LaTeX files. List of tuples
+# (source start file, target name, title,
+#  author, documentclass [howto, manual, or own class]).
+latex_documents = [
+    (master_doc, 'nmslib.tex', u'nmslib Documentation',
+     u'Bilegsaikhan Naidan, Leonid Boytsov, Yury Malkov. With contributions from David Novak, Lawrence Cayton, Wei Dong, Avrelin Nikita, Ben Frederickson, Dmitry Yashunin, Bob Poekert, @orgoro, Maxim Andreev, Daniel Lemire, Nathan Kurz, Alexander Ponomarenko.', 'manual'),
+]
+
+# The name of an image file (relative to this directory) to place at the top of
+# the title page.
+#latex_logo = None
+
+# For "manual" documents, if this is true, then toplevel headings are parts,
+# not chapters.
+#latex_use_parts = False
+
+# If true, show page references after internal links.
+#latex_show_pagerefs = False
+
+# If true, show URL addresses after external links.
+#latex_show_urls = False
+
+# Documents to append as an appendix to all manuals.
+#latex_appendices = []
+
+# If false, no module index is generated.
+#latex_domain_indices = True
+
+
+# -- Options for manual page output ---------------------------------------
+
+# One entry per manual page. List of tuples
+# (source start file, name, description, authors, manual section).
+man_pages = [
+    (master_doc, 'nmslib', u'nmslib Documentation',
+     [author], 1)
+]
+
+# If true, show URL addresses after external links.
+#man_show_urls = False
+
+
+# -- Options for Texinfo output -------------------------------------------
+
+# Grouping the document tree into Texinfo files. List of tuples
+# (source start file, target name, title, author,
+#  dir menu entry, description, category)
+texinfo_documents = [
+    (master_doc, 'nmslib', u'nmslib Documentation',
+     author, 'nmslib', 'One line description of project.',
+     'Miscellaneous'),
+]
+
+# Documents to append as an appendix to all manuals.
+#texinfo_appendices = []
+
+# If false, no module index is generated.
+#texinfo_domain_indices = True
+
+# How to display URL addresses: 'footnote', 'no', or 'inline'.
+#texinfo_show_urls = 'footnote'
+
+# If true, do not generate a @detailmenu in the "Top" node's menu.
+#texinfo_no_detailmenu = False
diff --git a/python_bindings/docs/index.rst b/python_bindings/docs/index.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7429c67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python_bindings/docs/index.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+.. nmslib documentation master file, created by
+   sphinx-quickstart on Mon Aug  7 17:30:15 2017.
+   You can adapt this file completely to your liking, but it should at least
+   contain the root `toctree` directive.
+
+Non-Metric Space Library (NMSLIB)
+==================================
+
+Contents:
+
+.. toctree::
+   :maxdepth: 2
+   :caption: Contents:
+
+    Quickstart <quickstart>
+    API Reference <api>
+    Logging <logging>
+
+
+Indices and tables
+==================
+
+* :ref:`genindex`
+* :ref:`modindex`
+* :ref:`search`
diff --git a/python_bindings/docs/logging.rst b/python_bindings/docs/logging.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..74b41bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python_bindings/docs/logging.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+Configuring Logging for NMSLIB
+==============================
+
+This library logs to a Python logger named ``nmslib``. This lets
+you fully control the log messages produced by nmslib in Python.
+
+For instance, to log everything produced by nmslib to a default
+python logger:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    # setup basic python logging
+    import logging
+    logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)
+
+    # importing nmslib logs some debug messages on startup, that
+    # that will be output to the python log handler created above
+    import nmslib
+
+To quiet these messages you can just set the level for nmslib
+as appropiate:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    # setup basic python logging
+    import logging
+    logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)
+
+    # Only log WARNING messages and above from nmslib
+    logging.getLogger('nmslib').setLevel(logging.WARNING)
+
+    import nmslib
diff --git a/python_bindings/docs/make.bat b/python_bindings/docs/make.bat
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cf7ff07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python_bindings/docs/make.bat
@@ -0,0 +1,263 @@
+@ECHO OFF
+
+REM Command file for Sphinx documentation
+
+if "%SPHINXBUILD%" == "" (
+	set SPHINXBUILD=sphinx-build
+)
+set BUILDDIR=_build
+set ALLSPHINXOPTS=-d %BUILDDIR%/doctrees %SPHINXOPTS% .
+set I18NSPHINXOPTS=%SPHINXOPTS% .
+if NOT "%PAPER%" == "" (
+	set ALLSPHINXOPTS=-D latex_paper_size=%PAPER% %ALLSPHINXOPTS%
+	set I18NSPHINXOPTS=-D latex_paper_size=%PAPER% %I18NSPHINXOPTS%
+)
+
+if "%1" == "" goto help
+
+if "%1" == "help" (
+	:help
+	echo.Please use `make ^<target^>` where ^<target^> is one of
+	echo.  html       to make standalone HTML files
+	echo.  dirhtml    to make HTML files named index.html in directories
+	echo.  singlehtml to make a single large HTML file
+	echo.  pickle     to make pickle files
+	echo.  json       to make JSON files
+	echo.  htmlhelp   to make HTML files and a HTML help project
+	echo.  qthelp     to make HTML files and a qthelp project
+	echo.  devhelp    to make HTML files and a Devhelp project
+	echo.  epub       to make an epub
+	echo.  latex      to make LaTeX files, you can set PAPER=a4 or PAPER=letter
+	echo.  text       to make text files
+	echo.  man        to make manual pages
+	echo.  texinfo    to make Texinfo files
+	echo.  gettext    to make PO message catalogs
+	echo.  changes    to make an overview over all changed/added/deprecated items
+	echo.  xml        to make Docutils-native XML files
+	echo.  pseudoxml  to make pseudoxml-XML files for display purposes
+	echo.  linkcheck  to check all external links for integrity
+	echo.  doctest    to run all doctests embedded in the documentation if enabled
+	echo.  coverage   to run coverage check of the documentation if enabled
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "clean" (
+	for /d %%i in (%BUILDDIR%\*) do rmdir /q /s %%i
+	del /q /s %BUILDDIR%\*
+	goto end
+)
+
+
+REM Check if sphinx-build is available and fallback to Python version if any
+%SPHINXBUILD% 1>NUL 2>NUL
+if errorlevel 9009 goto sphinx_python
+goto sphinx_ok
+
+:sphinx_python
+
+set SPHINXBUILD=python -m sphinx.__init__
+%SPHINXBUILD% 2> nul
+if errorlevel 9009 (
+	echo.
+	echo.The 'sphinx-build' command was not found. Make sure you have Sphinx
+	echo.installed, then set the SPHINXBUILD environment variable to point
+	echo.to the full path of the 'sphinx-build' executable. Alternatively you
+	echo.may add the Sphinx directory to PATH.
+	echo.
+	echo.If you don't have Sphinx installed, grab it from
+	echo.http://sphinx-doc.org/
+	exit /b 1
+)
+
+:sphinx_ok
+
+
+if "%1" == "html" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b html %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/html
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.Build finished. The HTML pages are in %BUILDDIR%/html.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "dirhtml" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b dirhtml %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/dirhtml
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.Build finished. The HTML pages are in %BUILDDIR%/dirhtml.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "singlehtml" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b singlehtml %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/singlehtml
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.Build finished. The HTML pages are in %BUILDDIR%/singlehtml.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "pickle" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b pickle %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/pickle
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.Build finished; now you can process the pickle files.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "json" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b json %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/json
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.Build finished; now you can process the JSON files.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "htmlhelp" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b htmlhelp %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/htmlhelp
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.Build finished; now you can run HTML Help Workshop with the ^
+.hhp project file in %BUILDDIR%/htmlhelp.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "qthelp" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b qthelp %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/qthelp
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.Build finished; now you can run "qcollectiongenerator" with the ^
+.qhcp project file in %BUILDDIR%/qthelp, like this:
+	echo.^> qcollectiongenerator %BUILDDIR%\qthelp\nmslib.qhcp
+	echo.To view the help file:
+	echo.^> assistant -collectionFile %BUILDDIR%\qthelp\nmslib.ghc
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "devhelp" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b devhelp %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/devhelp
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.Build finished.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "epub" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b epub %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/epub
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.Build finished. The epub file is in %BUILDDIR%/epub.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "latex" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b latex %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/latex
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.Build finished; the LaTeX files are in %BUILDDIR%/latex.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "latexpdf" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b latex %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/latex
+	cd %BUILDDIR%/latex
+	make all-pdf
+	cd %~dp0
+	echo.
+	echo.Build finished; the PDF files are in %BUILDDIR%/latex.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "latexpdfja" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b latex %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/latex
+	cd %BUILDDIR%/latex
+	make all-pdf-ja
+	cd %~dp0
+	echo.
+	echo.Build finished; the PDF files are in %BUILDDIR%/latex.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "text" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b text %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/text
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.Build finished. The text files are in %BUILDDIR%/text.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "man" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b man %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/man
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.Build finished. The manual pages are in %BUILDDIR%/man.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "texinfo" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b texinfo %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/texinfo
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.Build finished. The Texinfo files are in %BUILDDIR%/texinfo.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "gettext" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b gettext %I18NSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/locale
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.Build finished. The message catalogs are in %BUILDDIR%/locale.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "changes" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b changes %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/changes
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.The overview file is in %BUILDDIR%/changes.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "linkcheck" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b linkcheck %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/linkcheck
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.Link check complete; look for any errors in the above output ^
+or in %BUILDDIR%/linkcheck/output.txt.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "doctest" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b doctest %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/doctest
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.Testing of doctests in the sources finished, look at the ^
+results in %BUILDDIR%/doctest/output.txt.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "coverage" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b coverage %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/coverage
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.Testing of coverage in the sources finished, look at the ^
+results in %BUILDDIR%/coverage/python.txt.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "xml" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b xml %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/xml
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.Build finished. The XML files are in %BUILDDIR%/xml.
+	goto end
+)
+
+if "%1" == "pseudoxml" (
+	%SPHINXBUILD% -b pseudoxml %ALLSPHINXOPTS% %BUILDDIR%/pseudoxml
+	if errorlevel 1 exit /b 1
+	echo.
+	echo.Build finished. The pseudo-XML files are in %BUILDDIR%/pseudoxml.
+	goto end
+)
+
+:end
diff --git a/python_bindings/docs/quickstart.rst b/python_bindings/docs/quickstart.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8d9e7ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python_bindings/docs/quickstart.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+Python bindings for NMSLIB
+====================================
+
+Installation
+------------
+
+This project works with Python on version 2.7+ and 3.5+, and on Linux, OSX and the Windows operating systems. To install:
+
+``pip install nmslib``
+
+You may need to install Python dev-files. On Ubuntu, you can do it as follows:
+
+``sudo apt-get install python3-dev``
+
+Building on Windows requires Visual Studio 2015, see this project for more information.
+
+Example Usage
+-------------
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    import nmslib
+    import numpy
+
+    # create a random matrix to index
+    data = numpy.random.randn(10000, 100).astype(numpy.float32)
+
+    # initialize a new index, using a HNSW index on Cosine Similarity
+    index = nmslib.init(method='hnsw', space='cosinesimil')
+    index.addDataPointBatch(data)
+    index.createIndex({'post': 2}, print_progress=True)
+
+    # query for the nearest neighbours of the first datapoint
+    ids, distances = index.knnQuery(data[0], k=10)
+
+    # get all nearest neighbours for all the datapoint
+    # using a pool of 4 threads to compute
+    neighbours = index.knnQueryBatch(data, k=10, num_threads=4)
+
diff --git a/python_bindings/nmslib.cc b/python_bindings/nmslib.cc
index 079ddf9..e24edfa 100644
--- a/python_bindings/nmslib.cc
+++ b/python_bindings/nmslib.cc
@@ -317,9 +317,47 @@ struct IndexWrapper {
   ObjectVector data;
 };
 
+class PythonLogger
+  : public Logger {
+ public:
+  py::object inner;
+  explicit PythonLogger(const py::object & inner)
+    : inner(inner) {
+  }
+
+  void log(LogSeverity severity,
+           const char * file,
+           int line,
+           const char * function,
+           const std::string & message) {
+    py::gil_scoped_acquire l;
+    switch(severity) {
+      case LIB_DEBUG:
+        inner.attr("debug")(message);
+        break;
+      case LIB_INFO:
+        inner.attr("info")(message);
+        break;
+      case LIB_WARNING:
+        inner.attr("warning")(message);
+        break;
+      case LIB_ERROR:
+        inner.attr("error")(message);
+        break;
+      case LIB_FATAL:
+        inner.attr("critical")(message);
+        break;
+    }
+  }
+};
+
 PYBIND11_PLUGIN(nmslib) {
-  // TODO(@benfred): configurable logging
-  initLibrary(LIB_LOGSTDERR, NULL);
+  // Log using the python logger, instead of defaults built in here
+  py::module logging = py::module::import("logging");
+  py::module nmslibLogger = logging.attr("getLogger")("nmslib");
+  setGlobalLogger(new PythonLogger(nmslibLogger));
+
+  initLibrary(LIB_LOGCUSTOM, NULL);
 
   py::module m(module_name, "Bindings for Non-Metric Space Library (NMSLIB)");
 
@@ -438,7 +476,7 @@ void exportIndex(py::module * m) {
     .def("knnQueryBatch", &IndexWrapper<dist_t>::knnQueryBatch,
       py::arg("queries"), py::arg("k") = 10, py::arg("num_threads") = 0,
       "Performs multiple queries on the index, distributing the work over \n"
-      "a thread pool\n"
+      "a thread pool\n\n"
       "Parameters\n"
       "----------\n"
       "input: list\n"
@@ -485,7 +523,7 @@ void exportIndex(py::module * m) {
     .def("addDataPoint", &IndexWrapper<dist_t>::addDataPoint,
       py::arg("id"),
       py::arg("data"),
-      "Adds a single data point to the index\n\n"
+      "Adds a single datapoint to the index\n\n"
       "Parameters\n"
       "----------\n"
       "id: int\n"
@@ -500,7 +538,7 @@ void exportIndex(py::module * m) {
     .def("addDataPointBatch", &IndexWrapper<dist_t>::addDataPointBatch,
       py::arg("data"),
       py::arg("ids") = py::none(),
-      "Adds several data points to the index\n\n"
+      "Adds multiple datapoints to the index\n\n"
       "Parameters\n"
       "----------\n"
       "data: object\n"
diff --git a/python_bindings/setup.cfg b/python_bindings/setup.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4e14725
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python_bindings/setup.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+[metadata]
+description-file = README.md
+
+[flake8]
+max-line-length = 100
+exclude = build,.eggs,.tox,integration_tests,docs
diff --git a/python_bindings/setup.py b/python_bindings/setup.py
index 1951786..5253243 100755
--- a/python_bindings/setup.py
+++ b/python_bindings/setup.py
@@ -129,9 +129,12 @@ def build_extensions(self):
     description='Non-Metric Space Library (NMSLIB)',
     author='Leonid Boytsov',
     url='https://github.com/searchivarius/nmslib',
-    long_description="""Non-Metric Space Library (NMSLIB) is an efficient cross-platform similarity search library and a toolkit for evaluation of similarity search methods.
-The goal of the project is to create an effective and comprehensive toolkit for searching in generic non-metric spaces. Being comprehensive is important, because no single method
-is likely to be sufficient in all cases. Also note that exact solutions are hardly efficient in high dimensions and/or non-metric spaces. Hence, the main focus is on approximate me thods.""",
+    long_description="""Non-Metric Space Library (NMSLIB) is an efficient cross-platform
+ similarity search library and a toolkit for evaluation of similarity search methods. The
+ goal of the project is to create an effective and comprehensive toolkit for searching in
+ generic non-metric spaces. Being comprehensive is important, because no single method is
+ likely to be sufficient in all cases. Also note that exact solutions are hardly efficient in
+ high dimensions and/or non-metric spaces. Hence, the main focus is on approximate methods.""",
     ext_modules=ext_modules,
     install_requires=['pybind11>=2.0', 'numpy'],
     cmdclass={'build_ext': BuildExt},
diff --git a/python_bindings/tests/legacy_test.py b/python_bindings/tests/legacy_test.py
index 3acaf7e..91fd498 100755
--- a/python_bindings/tests/legacy_test.py
+++ b/python_bindings/tests/legacy_test.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
 import nmslib
 
+
 class DenseTests(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
diff --git a/python_bindings/tox.ini b/python_bindings/tox.ini
index b1af162..6bed36e 100644
--- a/python_bindings/tox.ini
+++ b/python_bindings/tox.ini
@@ -5,3 +5,14 @@ envlist = py27, py35, py36
 commands = {envpython} setup.py test
 deps =
     -rrequirements.txt
+
+[testenv:style]
+deps =
+    -rrequirements.txt
+    flake8
+
+commands =
+    flake8
+
+[flake8]
+max-line-length = 100
diff --git a/similarity_search/apps/tune_vptree.cc b/similarity_search/apps/tune_vptree.cc
index 5d04b1c..bd323d6 100644
--- a/similarity_search/apps/tune_vptree.cc
+++ b/similarity_search/apps/tune_vptree.cc
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ void RunExper(unsigned AddRestartQty,
     }
     LOG(LIB_INFO) << "Recall: " << recall;
     LOG(LIB_INFO) << "Best time: " << time_best;
-    LOG(LIB_INFO) << "Best impr. " << impr_best << " (" << getOptimMetricName(metric) << ")" << endl;
+    LOG(LIB_INFO) << "Best impr. " << impr_best << " (" << getOptimMetricName(metric) << ")";
     LOG(LIB_INFO) << "alpha_left: " << alpha_left;
     LOG(LIB_INFO) << "exp_left: " << exp_left;
     LOG(LIB_INFO) << "alpha_right: " << alpha_right;
diff --git a/similarity_search/include/logging.h b/similarity_search/include/logging.h
index c5aa935..25a60c0 100644
--- a/similarity_search/include/logging.h
+++ b/similarity_search/include/logging.h
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
  * With contributions from Lawrence Cayton (http://lcayton.com/) and others.
  *
  * For the complete list of contributors and further details see:
- * https://github.com/searchivarius/NonMetricSpaceLib 
- * 
+ * https://github.com/searchivarius/NonMetricSpaceLib
+ *
  * Copyright (c) 2014
  *
  * This code is released under the
@@ -30,30 +30,82 @@ using std::stringstream;
 using std::runtime_error;
 using std::string;
 
-enum LogSeverity {LIB_INFO, LIB_WARNING, LIB_ERROR, LIB_FATAL};
-enum LogChoice  {LIB_LOGNONE, LIB_LOGFILE, LIB_LOGSTDERR};
+enum LogSeverity {LIB_DEBUG, LIB_INFO, LIB_WARNING, LIB_ERROR, LIB_FATAL};
+enum LogChoice  {LIB_LOGNONE, LIB_LOGFILE, LIB_LOGSTDERR, LIB_LOGCUSTOM};
 
 std::string LibGetCurrentTime();
 
 // write log to file
 void InitializeLogger(LogChoice choice = LIB_LOGNONE, const char* logfile = NULL);
 
+// Abstract base class that all loggers must override
 class Logger {
  public:
-  Logger(LogSeverity severity, const std::string& file, int line, const char* function);
-  ~Logger();
+  virtual ~Logger();
+  virtual void log(LogSeverity severity,
+                   const char * file,
+                   int line,
+                   const char * function,
+                   const std::string & message) = 0;
+};
 
-  static std::ostream& stream() { return *currstrm_ ; }
+void setGlobalLogger(Logger * logger);
+Logger * getGlobalLogger();
 
- private:
-  LogSeverity severity_;
+class StdErrLogger
+  : public Logger {
+ public:
+  void log(LogSeverity severity,
+           const char * file,
+           int line,
+           const char * function,
+           const std::string & message);
+};
+
+class FileLogger
+  : public Logger {
+ public:
+  FileLogger(const char * logfile);
+  void log(LogSeverity severity,
+           const char * file,
+           int line,
+           const char * function,
+           const std::string & message);
+ protected:
+  std::ofstream logfile;
+};
 
-  static ofstream logfile_;
+// A single entry in the log
+class LogItem {
+ public:
+  LogItem(LogSeverity severity, const char * file, int line, const char * function,
+          Logger * logger)
+    : severity(severity), file(file), line(line), function(function), logger(logger) {
+  }
 
-  static ostream* currstrm_;
+  template <typename T>
+  LogItem & operator << (T t) {
+    message << t;
+    return *this;
+  }
 
-  // If choice != LIB_LOGFILE the second argument is ignored
-  friend void InitializeLogger(LogChoice choice, const char* logfile);
+  ~LogItem() {
+    if (logger) {
+        logger->log(severity, file, line, function, message.str());
+    }
+    // TODO: probably better to throw an exception here rather than die outright
+    // but this matches previous behaviour
+    if (severity == LIB_FATAL) {
+      exit(1);
+    }
+  }
+
+  LogSeverity severity;
+  const char * file;
+  int line;
+  const char * function;
+  Logger * logger;
+  std::stringstream message;
 };
 
 class RuntimeErrorWrapper {
@@ -66,9 +118,9 @@ class RuntimeErrorWrapper {
   stringstream currstrm_;
 };
 
-
+// TODO: zero cost log abstraction
 #define LOG(severity) \
-  Logger(severity, __FILE__, __LINE__, __FUNCTION__).stream()
+  LogItem(severity, __FILE__, __LINE__, __FUNCTION__, getGlobalLogger())
 
 #define CHECK(condition) \
   if (!(condition)) {\
diff --git a/similarity_search/lshkit/include/lshkit/multiprobelsh-fitdata.h b/similarity_search/lshkit/include/lshkit/multiprobelsh-fitdata.h
index c4db8a5..9c96b68 100644
--- a/similarity_search/lshkit/include/lshkit/multiprobelsh-fitdata.h
+++ b/similarity_search/lshkit/include/lshkit/multiprobelsh-fitdata.h
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ std::string FitData(const FloatMatrix& data,
                     unsigned F             // divide the sample to F folds
                    )
 {
-    LOG(LIB_INFO) << "started running FitData" << std::endl;
+    LOG(LIB_INFO) << "started running FitData";
 
     std::vector<unsigned> idx(data.getSize());
     for (size_t i = 0; i < idx.size(); ++i) idx[i] = i;
diff --git a/similarity_search/src/init.cc b/similarity_search/src/init.cc
index a1504ee..9e43957 100644
--- a/similarity_search/src/init.cc
+++ b/similarity_search/src/init.cc
@@ -35,5 +35,4 @@ void initLibrary(LogChoice choice, const char* pLogFile) {
   initSpaces();
   initMethods();
 }
-
 }
diff --git a/similarity_search/src/logging.cc b/similarity_search/src/logging.cc
index ddbac5f..15552a9 100644
--- a/similarity_search/src/logging.cc
+++ b/similarity_search/src/logging.cc
@@ -24,23 +24,29 @@
 #include <assert.h>
 
 #include <iostream>
+#include <memory>
 #include <string>
 
 #include "logging.h"
 
-const char* log_severity[] = {"INFO", "WARNING", "ERROR", "FATAL"};
+const char* log_severity[] = {"DEBUG", "INFO", "WARNING", "ERROR", "FATAL"};
 
 using namespace std;
 
-// allocate the static member
-std::ofstream Logger::logfile_;
+namespace {
+  std::unique_ptr<Logger> global_log(new StdErrLogger());
+}
 
-static struct voidstream : public ostream {
-  template <class T> ostream& operator<< (T) { return *this; }
-  template <class T> ostream& operator<< (T*) { return *this; }
-  template <class T> ostream& operator<< (T&) { return *this; }
-  voidstream() : ostream(0) {}
-} voidstream_;
+void setGlobalLogger(Logger * logger) {
+  global_log.reset(logger);
+}
+
+Logger * getGlobalLogger() {
+  return global_log.get();
+}
+
+Logger::~Logger() {
+}
 
 std::string LibGetCurrentTime() {
   time_t now;
@@ -51,48 +57,59 @@ std::string LibGetCurrentTime() {
   return std::string(time_string);
 }
 
-ostream* Logger::currstrm_ = &cerr;
-
-Logger::Logger(LogSeverity severity, const std::string& _file, int line, const char* function)
-    : severity_(severity) {
+template <typename T>
+void defaultOutput(T & stream, LogSeverity severity,
+                   const std::string& _file, int line, const char* function,
+                   const std::string & message) {
   std::string file = _file;
   size_t n = file.rfind('/');
   if (n != std::string::npos) {
     file.erase(file.begin(), file.begin() + n + 1);
   }
-  stream() << LibGetCurrentTime() << " " << file << ":" << line
-           << " (" << function << ") [" << log_severity[severity] << "] ";
+  stream << LibGetCurrentTime() << " " << file << ":" << line
+         << " (" << function << ") [" << log_severity[severity] << "] " << message << std::endl;
 }
 
-Logger::~Logger() {
-  stream() << '\n';
-  if (severity_ == LIB_FATAL) {
-    stream().flush();
-    if (logfile_.is_open())
-      logfile_.close();
-    // TODO(@leo/@bileg) do we want to abort here?
-    //abort();
-    exit(1); 
+void StdErrLogger::log(LogSeverity severity,
+                       const char * file,
+                       int line,
+                       const char * function,
+                       const std::string & message) {
+  defaultOutput(std::cerr, severity, file, line, function, message);
+}
+
+FileLogger::FileLogger(const char * logfilename)
+  : logfile(logfilename) {
+  if (!logfile) {
+    LOG(LIB_FATAL) << "Can't open the logfile: '" << logfilename << "'";
   }
 }
 
+void FileLogger::log(LogSeverity severity,
+                     const char * file,
+                     int line,
+                     const char * function,
+                     const std::string & message) {
+  defaultOutput(logfile, severity, file, line, function, message);
+}
+
 void InitializeLogger(LogChoice choice, const char* logfile) {
-  if (choice == LIB_LOGNONE) {
-    Logger::currstrm_ = &voidstream_;
-  }
-  if (choice == LIB_LOGFILE) {
-    Logger::logfile_.open(logfile);
-    if (!Logger::logfile_) {
-      LOG(LIB_FATAL) << "Can't open the logfile: '" << logfile << "'";
-    }
-    Logger::currstrm_ = &Logger::logfile_;
-  }
-  if (choice == LIB_LOGSTDERR) {
-    Logger::currstrm_ = &cerr;
+  switch (choice) {
+    case LIB_LOGNONE:
+      setGlobalLogger(NULL);
+      break;
+    case LIB_LOGSTDERR:
+      setGlobalLogger(new StdErrLogger());
+      break;
+    case LIB_LOGFILE:
+      setGlobalLogger(new FileLogger(logfile));
+      break;
+    case LIB_LOGCUSTOM:
+      // don't set a logger here: setGlobalLogger will be called already
+      break;
   }
 }
 
-
 RuntimeErrorWrapper::RuntimeErrorWrapper(const std::string& _file, int line, const char* function) {
   std::string file = _file;
   size_t n = file.rfind('/');
diff --git a/similarity_search/src/space/space_bit_hamming.cc b/similarity_search/src/space/space_bit_hamming.cc
index 0fe1ced..84aad92 100644
--- a/similarity_search/src/space/space_bit_hamming.cc
+++ b/similarity_search/src/space/space_bit_hamming.cc
@@ -65,9 +65,9 @@ void SpaceBitHamming::ReadBitMaskVect(std::string line, LabelType& label, std::v
       v.push_back(val);
     }
   } catch (const std::exception &e) {
-    LOG(LIB_ERROR) << "Exception: " << e.what() << std::endl;
+    LOG(LIB_ERROR) << "Exception: " << e.what();
     PREPARE_RUNTIME_ERR(err) << "Failed to parse the line: '" << line << "'";
-    LOG(LIB_ERROR) << err.stream().str() << std::endl;
+    LOG(LIB_ERROR) << err.stream().str();
     THROW_RUNTIME_ERR(err);
   }
   Binarize(v, 1, binVect);      // Create the binary vector
diff --git a/similarity_search/src/space/space_dummy.cc b/similarity_search/src/space/space_dummy.cc
index 1366d4a..abbaaac 100644
--- a/similarity_search/src/space/space_dummy.cc
+++ b/similarity_search/src/space/space_dummy.cc
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ namespace similarity {
 
 template <typename dist_t>
 dist_t SpaceDummy<dist_t>::HiddenDistance(const Object* obj1, const Object* obj2) const {
-  LOG(LIB_INFO) << "Calculating the distance between objects: " << obj1->id() << " and " << obj2->id() << endl;
+  LOG(LIB_INFO) << "Calculating the distance between objects: " << obj1->id() << " and " << obj2->id();
   CHECK(obj1->datalength() > 0);
   CHECK(obj1->datalength() == obj2->datalength());
   /* 
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ bool SpaceDummy<dist_t>::ReadNextObjStr(DataFileInputState &inpStateBase, string
 template <typename dist_t>
 void SpaceDummy<dist_t>::WriteNextObj(const Object& obj, const string& externId, DataFileOutputState &outState) const {
   string s = CreateStrFromObj(&obj, externId);
-  outState.out_file_ << s << endl;
+  outState.out_file_ << s;
 }
 /** End of standard functions to read/write/create objects */ 
 
diff --git a/similarity_search/src/space/space_sparse_vector.cc b/similarity_search/src/space/space_sparse_vector.cc
index 95556b1..077a70f 100644
--- a/similarity_search/src/space/space_sparse_vector.cc
+++ b/similarity_search/src/space/space_sparse_vector.cc
@@ -70,9 +70,9 @@ void SpaceSparseVector<dist_t>::ReadSparseVec(std::string line, size_t line_num,
       }
     }
   } catch (const std::exception &e) {
-    LOG(LIB_ERROR) << "Exception: " << e.what() << std::endl;
+    LOG(LIB_ERROR) << "Exception: " << e.what();
     PREPARE_RUNTIME_ERR(err) << "Failed to parse the line # " << line_num << ": '" << line << "'" << std::endl;
-    LOG(LIB_ERROR) << err.stream().str() << std::endl;
+    LOG(LIB_ERROR) << err.stream().str();
     THROW_RUNTIME_ERR(err);
   }
 
diff --git a/similarity_search/test/test_distfunc.cc b/similarity_search/test/test_distfunc.cc
index ef293c5..0cb4698 100644
--- a/similarity_search/test/test_distfunc.cc
+++ b/similarity_search/test/test_distfunc.cc
@@ -912,8 +912,8 @@ bool TestPivotIndex(const string& spaceName,
                     const string& dataFile, size_t dataQty,
                     const string& pivotFile, size_t pivotQty) {
 
-  LOG(LIB_INFO) << "space: " << spaceName << " real pivot index?: " << !useDummyIndex << endl <<
-                   " dataFile: " << dataFile << endl <<
+  LOG(LIB_INFO) << "space: " << spaceName << " real pivot index?: " << !useDummyIndex << " " <<
+                   " dataFile: " << dataFile << " " <<
                    " pivotFile: " << pivotFile;
   try {
     typedef float T;