diff --git a/base/LineEdit.jl b/base/LineEdit.jl
index e341fe3e509b2..12a16c0b23cb8 100644
--- a/base/LineEdit.jl
+++ b/base/LineEdit.jl
@@ -1569,7 +1569,6 @@ function prompt!(term, prompt, s = init_state(term, prompt))
     raw!(term, true)
     enable_bracketed_paste(term)
     try
-        Base.start_reading(term)
         activate(prompt, s, term)
         while true
             map = keymap(s, prompt)
diff --git a/base/REPL.jl b/base/REPL.jl
index 21f9ac124bb53..4738e36d33979 100644
--- a/base/REPL.jl
+++ b/base/REPL.jl
@@ -801,11 +801,9 @@ function setup_interface(repl::LineEditREPL; hascolor = repl.hascolor, extra_rep
                     LineEdit.commit_line(s)
                     # This is slightly ugly but ok for now
                     terminal = LineEdit.terminal(s)
-                    Base.stop_reading(terminal)
                     raw!(terminal, false) && disable_bracketed_paste(terminal)
                     LineEdit.mode(s).on_done(s, LineEdit.buffer(s), true)
                     raw!(terminal, true) && enable_bracketed_paste(terminal)
-                    Base.start_reading(terminal)
                 else
                     break
                 end
diff --git a/base/Terminals.jl b/base/Terminals.jl
index a62e4b85d59e2..c366fdc5a5b62 100644
--- a/base/Terminals.jl
+++ b/base/Terminals.jl
@@ -30,8 +30,6 @@ import Base:
     read,
     readuntil,
     size,
-    start_reading,
-    stop_reading,
     write,
     writemime,
     reseteof,
@@ -194,8 +192,6 @@ readuntil(t::UnixTerminal, s::AbstractString) = readuntil(t.in_stream, s)
 readuntil(t::UnixTerminal, c::Char) = readuntil(t.in_stream, c)
 readuntil(t::UnixTerminal, s) = readuntil(t.in_stream, s)
 read(t::UnixTerminal, ::Type{UInt8}) = read(t.in_stream, UInt8)
-start_reading(t::UnixTerminal) = start_reading(t.in_stream)
-stop_reading(t::UnixTerminal) = stop_reading(t.in_stream)
 eof(t::UnixTerminal) = eof(t.in_stream)
 
 @unix_only hascolor(t::TTYTerminal) = (startswith(t.term_type, "xterm") || success(`tput setaf 0`))
diff --git a/base/inference_types.jl b/base/inference_types.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..ec252e173676d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/base/inference_types.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+# parameters limiting potentially-infinite types
+const MAX_TYPEUNION_LEN = 3
+const MAX_TYPE_DEPTH = 4
+const MAX_TUPLETYPE_LEN  = 8
+const MAX_TUPLE_DEPTH = 4
+
+type NotFound
+end
+
+const NF = NotFound()
+
+type StaticVarInfo
+    sp::SimpleVector     # static parameters
+    cenv::ObjectIdDict   # types of closed vars
+    vars::Array{Any,1}   # names of args and locals
+    gensym_types::Array{Any,1} # types of the GenSym's in this function
+    vinfo::Array{Any,1}  # variable properties
+    label_counter::Int   # index of the current highest label for this function
+    fedbackvars::ObjectIdDict
+end
+
+type VarState
+    typ
+    undef::Bool
+end
+
+type EmptyCallStack
+end
+
+type CallStack
+    ast
+    mod::Module
+    types::Type
+    recurred::Bool
+    cycleid::Int
+    result
+    prev::Union(EmptyCallStack,CallStack)
+    sv::StaticVarInfo
+
+    CallStack(ast, mod, types::ANY, prev) = new(ast, mod, types, false, 0, Bottom, prev)
+end
+
+inference_stack = EmptyCallStack()
+
diff --git a/base/iobuffer.jl b/base/iobuffer.jl
index 14737a1fd5f17..d691a6bacd304 100644
--- a/base/iobuffer.jl
+++ b/base/iobuffer.jl
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ IOBuffer(readable::Bool, writable::Bool) = IOBuffer(UInt8[], readable, writable)
 IOBuffer() = IOBuffer(true, true)
 IOBuffer(maxsize::Int) = (x=IOBuffer(Array(UInt8,maxsize), true, true, maxsize); x.size=0; x)
 
-is_maxsize_unlimited(io::IOBuffer) = (io.maxsize == typemax(Int))
 maxsize(io::IOBuffer) = io.maxsize
 
 read!(from::IOBuffer, a::Array) = read_sub(from, a, 1, length(a))
diff --git a/base/multi.jl b/base/multi.jl
index ad7cb43163659..e1fd604925ee5 100644
--- a/base/multi.jl
+++ b/base/multi.jl
@@ -811,7 +811,6 @@ end
 function process_messages(r_stream::TCPSocket, w_stream::TCPSocket; kwargs...)
     @schedule begin
         disable_nagle(r_stream)
-        Base.start_reading(r_stream)
         wait_connected(r_stream)
         if r_stream != w_stream
             disable_nagle(w_stream)
diff --git a/base/process.jl b/base/process.jl
index 4fad366fd37a8..8031957a101a0 100644
--- a/base/process.jl
+++ b/base/process.jl
@@ -434,7 +434,6 @@ eachline(cmd::AbstractCmd) = eachline(cmd, DevNull)
 function open(cmds::AbstractCmd, mode::AbstractString="r", stdio::AsyncStream=DevNull)
     if mode == "r"
         processes = @tmp_rpipe out tmp spawn(false, cmds, (stdio,tmp,STDERR))
-        start_reading(out)
         (out, processes)
     elseif mode == "w"
         processes = @tmp_wpipe tmp inpipe spawn(false, cmds, (tmp,stdio,STDERR))
diff --git a/base/socket.jl b/base/socket.jl
index 80bf936aa0585..62050577605c5 100644
--- a/base/socket.jl
+++ b/base/socket.jl
@@ -263,6 +263,7 @@ type TCPSocket <: Socket
     closenotify::Condition
     sendbuf::Nullable{SimpleIOBuffer}
     lock::ReentrantLock
+    throttle::Int
 
     TCPSocket(handle) = new(
         handle,
@@ -273,7 +274,8 @@ type TCPSocket <: Socket
         false, Condition(),
         false, Condition(),
         nothing,
-        ReentrantLock()
+        ReentrantLock(),
+        DEFAULT_READ_BUFFER_SZ
     )
 end
 function TCPSocket()
@@ -367,13 +369,15 @@ type UDPSocket <: Socket
     recvnotify::Condition
     sendnotify::Condition
     closenotify::Condition
+    throttle::Int
 
     UDPSocket(handle::Ptr) = new(
         handle,
         StatusUninit,
         Condition(),
         Condition(),
-        Condition()
+        Condition(),
+        DEFAULT_READ_BUFFER_SZ
     )
 end
 function UDPSocket()
diff --git a/base/stream.jl b/base/stream.jl
index 8ff6679309bf4..a1028c4a0605d 100644
--- a/base/stream.jl
+++ b/base/stream.jl
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ function eof(s::AsyncStream)
     !isopen(s) && nb_available(s.buffer)<=0
 end
 
+const DEFAULT_READ_BUFFER_SZ = 10485760           # 10 MB
+
 const StatusUninit      = 0 # handle is allocated, but not initialized
 const StatusInit        = 1 # handle is valid, but not connected/active
 const StatusConnecting  = 2 # handle is in process of connecting
@@ -104,6 +106,7 @@ type Pipe <: AsyncStream
     closenotify::Condition
     sendbuf::Nullable{SimpleIOBuffer}
     lock::ReentrantLock
+    throttle::Int
 
     Pipe(handle) = new(
         handle,
@@ -113,7 +116,8 @@ type Pipe <: AsyncStream
         false,Condition(),
         false,Condition(),
         false,Condition(),
-        nothing, ReentrantLock())
+        nothing, ReentrantLock(),
+        DEFAULT_READ_BUFFER_SZ)
 end
 function Pipe()
     handle = Libc.malloc(_sizeof_uv_named_pipe)
@@ -182,6 +186,7 @@ type TTY <: AsyncStream
     closenotify::Condition
     sendbuf::Nullable{SimpleIOBuffer}
     lock::ReentrantLock
+    throttle::Int
     @windows_only ispty::Bool
     function TTY(handle)
         tty = new(
@@ -191,7 +196,8 @@ type TTY <: AsyncStream
             PipeBuffer(),
             false,Condition(),
             false,Condition(),
-            nothing, ReentrantLock())
+            nothing, ReentrantLock(),
+            DEFAULT_READ_BUFFER_SZ)
         @windows_only tty.ispty = ccall(:jl_ispty, Cint, (Ptr{Void},), handle)!=0
         tty
     end
@@ -269,7 +275,25 @@ function init_stdio(handle)
     end
 end
 
-function stream_wait(x,c...)
+function stream_waitn(x::AsyncStream, nb, c...)
+    preserve_handle(x)
+    oldthrottle = x.throttle
+    try
+        x.throttle = max(nb, oldthrottle)
+        start_reading(x) # ensure we are reading
+        return wait(c...)
+    finally
+        x.throttle = oldthrottle
+        if isempty(x.readnotify) && isempty(x.closenotify)
+            stop_reading(x) # stop reading iff there are no other clients of the stream currently
+        end
+        unpreserve_handle(x)
+    end
+end
+
+stream_wait(x::AsyncStream, c...) = stream_waitn(x,1,c...)
+
+function stream_wait(x, c...)
     preserve_handle(x)
     try
         return wait(c...)
@@ -307,26 +331,24 @@ end
 function wait_connected(x)
     check_open(x)
     while x.status == StatusConnecting
-        stream_wait(x,x.connectnotify)
+        stream_wait(x, x.connectnotify)
         check_open(x)
     end
 end
 
 function wait_readbyte(x::AsyncStream, c::UInt8)
     while isopen(x) && search(x.buffer,c) <= 0
-        start_reading(x)
-        stream_wait(x,x.readnotify)
+        stream_waitn(x, 1, x.readnotify)
     end
 end
 
 function wait_readnb(x::AsyncStream, nb::Int)
     while isopen(x) && nb_available(x.buffer) < nb
-        start_reading(x)
-        stream_wait(x,x.readnotify)
+        stream_waitn(x, nb - nb_available(x.buffer), x.readnotify)
     end
 end
 
-wait_close(x) = if isopen(x) stream_wait(x,x.closenotify); end
+wait_close(x) = wait_readnb(x, typemax(Int))
 
 #from `connect`
 function _uv_hook_connectcb(sock::AsyncStream, status::Int32)
@@ -394,7 +416,6 @@ function notify_filled(stream::AsyncStream, nread::Int)
     end
 end
 
-const READ_BUFFER_SZ=10485760           # 10 MB
 function _uv_hook_readcb(stream::AsyncStream, nread::Int, base::Ptr{Void}, len::UInt)
     if nread < 0
         if nread != UV_EOF
@@ -418,10 +439,10 @@ function _uv_hook_readcb(stream::AsyncStream, nread::Int, base::Ptr{Void}, len::
     end
 
     # Stop reading when
-    # 1) when we have an infinite buffer, and we have accumulated a lot of unread data OR
+    # 1) we have accumulated a lot of unread data OR
     # 2) we have an alternate buffer that has reached its limit.
-    if (is_maxsize_unlimited(stream.buffer) && (nb_available(stream.buffer) > READ_BUFFER_SZ )) ||
-       (nb_available(stream.buffer) == stream.buffer.maxsize)
+    if (nb_available(stream.buffer) >= stream.throttle) ||
+       (nb_available(stream.buffer) >= stream.buffer.maxsize)
         stop_reading(stream)
     end
 end
@@ -532,7 +553,7 @@ function sleep(sec::Real)
     end)
     start_timer(timer, float(sec), 0)
     try
-        stream_wait(timer,w)
+        stream_wait(timer, w)
     finally
         stop_timer(timer)
     end
@@ -640,15 +661,15 @@ function start_reading(stream::AsyncStream)
     end
 end
 function start_reading(stream::AsyncStream, cb::Function)
-    start_reading(stream)
+    failure = start_reading(stream)
     stream.readcb = cb
     nread = nb_available(stream.buffer)
     if nread > 0
         notify_filled(stream, nread)
     end
-    nothing
+    return failure_code
 end
-start_reading(stream::AsyncStream, cb::Bool) = (start_reading(stream); stream.readcb = cb; nothing)
+start_reading(stream::AsyncStream, cb::Bool) = (failure_code = start_reading(stream); stream.readcb = cb; return failure_code)
 
 function stop_reading(stream::AsyncStream)
     if stream.status == StatusActive
@@ -663,7 +684,7 @@ function stop_reading(stream::AsyncStream)
 end
 
 function readall(stream::AsyncStream)
-    start_reading(stream)
+    stream.throttle = typemax(Int)
     wait_close(stream)
     return takebuf_string(stream.buffer)
 end
@@ -687,16 +708,22 @@ function read!(s::AsyncStream, a::Vector{UInt8})
     end
 
     if nb <= SZ_UNBUFFERED_IO # Under this limit we are OK with copying the array from the stream's buffer
-        wait_readnb(s,nb)
+        wait_readnb(s, nb)
         read!(sbuf, a)
     else
-        stop_reading(s) # Just playing it safe, since we are going to switch buffers.
-        newbuf = PipeBuffer(a, nb)
-        newbuf.size = 0
-        s.buffer = newbuf
-        write(newbuf, sbuf)
-        wait_readnb(s,nb)
-        s.buffer = sbuf
+        try
+            stop_reading(s) # Just playing it safe, since we are going to switch buffers.
+            newbuf = PipeBuffer(a, nb)
+            newbuf.size = 0 # reset the write pointer to the beginning
+            s.buffer = newbuf
+            write(newbuf, sbuf)
+            wait_readnb(s, nb)
+        finally
+            s.buffer = sbuf
+            if !isempty(x.readnotify) || !isempty(x.closenotify)
+                start_reading(s)
+            end
+        end
     end
     return a
 end
@@ -711,8 +738,8 @@ end
 function read(this::AsyncStream,::Type{UInt8})
     buf = this.buffer
     @assert buf.seekable == false
-    wait_readnb(this,1)
-    read(buf,UInt8)
+    wait_readnb(this, 1)
+    read(buf, UInt8)
 end
 
 readline(this::AsyncStream) = readuntil(this, '\n')
@@ -992,15 +1019,8 @@ function wait_readnb(s::BufferStream, nb::Int)
     (nb_available(s.buffer) < nb) && error("closed BufferStream")
 end
 
-function eof(s::BufferStream)
-    wait_readnb(s,1)
-    !isopen(s) && nb_available(s.buffer)<=0
-end
-
 show(io::IO, s::BufferStream) = print(io,"BufferStream() bytes waiting:",nb_available(s.buffer),", isopen:", s.is_open)
 
-nb_available(s::BufferStream) = nb_available(s.buffer)
-
 function wait_readbyte(s::BufferStream, c::UInt8)
     while isopen(s) && search(s.buffer,c) <= 0
         wait(s.r_c)
diff --git a/base/testfile.jl b/base/testfile.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..ddd8bdcf13c0c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/base/testfile.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+function collect{T}(::Type{T}, itr)
+    # when length() isn't defined this branch might pollute the
+    # type of the other.
+    a = Array(T,length(itr)::Integer)
+    i = 0
+    for x in itr
+        a[i+=1] = x
+    end
+    return a
+end
+Base.Inference.println(Base.Inference.code_typed(collect, Tuple{Type{Int64},Int64}))
+