diff --git a/src/main/java/hudson/MockExtensionLists.java b/src/main/java/hudson/MockExtensionLists.java
index fb6183f..044471d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/hudson/MockExtensionLists.java
+++ b/src/main/java/hudson/MockExtensionLists.java
@@ -17,30 +17,30 @@
 import jenkins.model.Jenkins;
 
 public class MockExtensionLists {
-    private static Map<String, ExtensionList> extensionLists = new HashMap<String, ExtensionList>();    
+    private static Map<String, ExtensionList<?>> extensionLists = new HashMap<String, ExtensionList<?>>();
 
-    public ExtensionList getMockExtensionList(HyperLocalPluginManger hlpm, Jenkins hudson, Class type) {
+    public ExtensionList<?> getMockExtensionList(HyperLocalPluginManger hlpm, Jenkins hudson, Class<?> type) {
         if(extensionLists.get(type.getName()) != null) {
             return extensionLists.get(type.getName());
         } else {
-            MockExtensionList mockList = new MockExtensionList(hlpm, hudson, type);
+            MockExtensionList<?> mockList = new MockExtensionList<>(hlpm, hudson, type);
             extensionLists.put(type.getName(), mockList.getMockExtensionList());
             return mockList.getMockExtensionList();
         }
     }
 
-    private class MockExtensionList {
-        ExtensionList mockExtensionList;
+    private class MockExtensionList<T> {
+        ExtensionList<T> mockExtensionList;
 
-        public MockExtensionList(HyperLocalPluginManger hlpm, Jenkins hudson, Class type) {
-            ExtensionList realList = ExtensionList.create(hudson, type);
+        public MockExtensionList(HyperLocalPluginManger hlpm, Jenkins hudson, Class<T> type) {
+            ExtensionList<T> realList = ExtensionList.create(hudson, type);
             mockExtensionList = spy(realList);
 
             doReturn("Locking resources").when(mockExtensionList).getLoadLock();
             doAnswer(mockLoad(hlpm)).when(mockExtensionList).load();
         }
 
-        private <T> Answer<List<ExtensionComponent<T>>> mockLoad(HyperLocalPluginManger hlpm) {
+        private Answer<List<ExtensionComponent<T>>> mockLoad(HyperLocalPluginManger hlpm) {
             return new Answer<List<ExtensionComponent<T>>>() {
                 public List<ExtensionComponent<T>> answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
                     return hlpm.getPluginStrategy().findComponents(mockExtensionList.extensionType, (Hudson)null);
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ public List<ExtensionComponent<T>> answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Th
             };
         }
 
-        public ExtensionList getMockExtensionList(){
+        public ExtensionList<T> getMockExtensionList(){
             return mockExtensionList;
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/pipeline_steps_doc_generator/HyperLocalPluginManger.java b/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/pipeline_steps_doc_generator/HyperLocalPluginManger.java
index 853efb8..78d034d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/pipeline_steps_doc_generator/HyperLocalPluginManger.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/pipeline_steps_doc_generator/HyperLocalPluginManger.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMap;
 import java.util.logging.Level;
+import java.util.logging.Logger;
 
 /**
  * Acts as a PluginManager that operates outside the normal startup process of Jenkins.  Essentially, this captures the
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@
  * use calls to Jenkins.
  */
 public class HyperLocalPluginManger extends LocalPluginManager{
+    private static final Logger LOG = Logger.getLogger(HyperLocalPluginManger.class.getName());
     private final ModClassicPluginStrategy strategy;
     public final UberPlusClassLoader uberPlusClassLoader = new UberPlusClassLoader();
     private final boolean checkCycles;
@@ -126,7 +128,7 @@ public void run(Reactor session1) throws Exception {
                                 private boolean isDuplicate(PluginWrapper p) {
                                     String shortName = p.getShortName();
                                     if (inspectedShortNames.containsKey(shortName)) {
-                                        System.out.println("Ignoring "+arc+" because "+inspectedShortNames.get(shortName)+" is already loaded");
+                                        LOG.info("Ignoring "+arc+" because "+inspectedShortNames.get(shortName)+" is already loaded");
                                         return true;
                                     }
 
@@ -164,7 +166,7 @@ private void addTo(List<PluginWrapper.Dependency> dependencies, List<PluginWrapp
                                             protected void reactOnCycle(PluginWrapper q, List<PluginWrapper> cycle)
                                                     throws hudson.util.CyclicGraphDetector.CycleDetectedException {
 
-                                                System.out.println("FATAL: found cycle in plugin dependencies: (root="+q+", deactivating all involved) "+Util.join(cycle," -> "));
+                                                LOG.severe("FATAL: found cycle in plugin dependencies: (root="+q+", deactivating all involved) "+Util.join(cycle," -> "));
                                                 for (PluginWrapper pluginWrapper : cycle) {
                                                     pluginWrapper.setHasCycleDependency(true);
                                                     failedPlugins.add(new FailedPlugin(pluginWrapper.getShortName(), new CycleDetectedException(cycle)));
@@ -205,7 +207,7 @@ public final class UberPlusClassLoader extends ClassLoader {
          * Make generated types visible.
          * Keyed by the generated class name.
          */
-        private ConcurrentMap<String, WeakReference<Class>> generatedClasses = new ConcurrentHashMap<String, WeakReference<Class>>();
+        private ConcurrentMap<String, WeakReference<Class<?>>> generatedClasses = new ConcurrentHashMap<String, WeakReference<Class<?>>>();
         /** Cache of loaded, or known to be unloadable, classes. */
         private final Map<String,Class<?>> loaded = new HashMap<String,Class<?>>();
         private final Map<String, String> byPlugin = new HashMap<String, String>();
@@ -214,16 +216,16 @@ public UberPlusClassLoader() {
             super(PluginManager.class.getClassLoader());
         }
 
-        public void addNamedClass(String className, Class c) {
-            generatedClasses.put(className,new WeakReference<Class>(c));
+        public void addNamedClass(String className, Class<?> c) {
+            generatedClasses.put(className,new WeakReference<Class<?>>(c));
         }
 
         @Override
         protected Class<?> findClass(String name) throws ClassNotFoundException {
             //likely want to avoid this, but we'll deal with it right now.
-            WeakReference<Class> wc = generatedClasses.get(name);
+            WeakReference<Class<?>> wc = generatedClasses.get(name);
             if (wc!=null) {
-                Class c = wc.get();
+                Class<?> c = wc.get();
                 if (c!=null)    return c;
                 else            generatedClasses.remove(name,wc);
             }
@@ -270,7 +272,7 @@ protected Class<?> findClass(String name) throws ClassNotFoundException {
             } else {
                 for (PluginWrapper p : activePlugins) {
                     try {
-                        Class c = p.classLoader.loadClass(name);
+                        Class<?> c = p.classLoader.loadClass(name);
                         synchronized (byPlugin){
                             byPlugin.put(c.getName(), p.getShortName());
                         }
@@ -447,7 +449,7 @@ private <T> Collection<ExtensionComponent<T>> _find(Class<T> type, List<IndexIte
                     AnnotatedElement e = item.element();
                     Class<?> extType;
                     if (e instanceof Class) {
-                        extType = (Class) e;
+                        extType = (Class<?>) e;
                     } else
                     if (e instanceof Field) {
                         extType = ((Field)e).getType();
@@ -465,20 +467,20 @@ private <T> Collection<ExtensionComponent<T>> _find(Class<T> type, List<IndexIte
                 } catch (LinkageError|Exception e) {
                     // sometimes the instantiation fails in an indirect classloading failure,
                     // which results in a LinkageError
-                    System.out.println("Failed to load "+item.className() + "\n" +  e);
+                    LOG.fine("Failed to load "+item.className() + "\n" +  e);
                 }
             }
 
             return result;
         }
 
-        public void scout(Class extensionType, ClassLoader cl) {
+        public void scout(Class<?> extensionType, ClassLoader cl) {
             for (IndexItem<Extension,Object> item : getIndices(cl)) {
                 try {
                     AnnotatedElement e = item.element();
                     Class<?> extType;
                     if (e instanceof Class) {
-                        extType = (Class) e;
+                        extType = (Class<?>) e;
                     } else
                     if (e instanceof Field) {
                         extType = ((Field)e).getType();
@@ -490,14 +492,10 @@ public void scout(Class extensionType, ClassLoader cl) {
                     // according to JDK-4993813 this is the only way to force class initialization
                     Class.forName(extType.getName(),true,extType.getClassLoader());
                 } catch (Exception | LinkageError e) {
-                    System.out.println("Failed to scout " + item.className() + "\n" + e);
+                    LOG.fine("Failed to scout " + item.className() + "\n" + e);
                 }
             }
         }
-
-        private Level logLevel(IndexItem<Extension, Object> item) {
-            return item.annotation().optional() ? Level.FINE : Level.WARNING;
-        }
     }
 
     /**
@@ -510,11 +508,11 @@ protected String getPluginNameForDescriptor(Descriptor<?> d) {
         try {
             uberPlusClassLoader.findClass(className);
         } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
-            e.printStackTrace();
+            LOG.log(Level.WARNING, "Class not found", e);
         }
     	String pluginName = uberPlusClassLoader.getByPlugin().get(className);
         if (pluginName == null) {
-        	System.out.println("No plugin found, assuming core: " + className);
+            LOG.info("No plugin found, assuming core: " + className);
             return "core";
         }
         return pluginName.trim();
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/pipeline_steps_doc_generator/PipelineStepExtractor.java b/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/pipeline_steps_doc_generator/PipelineStepExtractor.java
index 0759ba3..ac61faf 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/pipeline_steps_doc_generator/PipelineStepExtractor.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/pipeline_steps_doc_generator/PipelineStepExtractor.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 
 import javax.annotation.CheckForNull;
 import javax.annotation.Nonnull;
+
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.Serializable;
@@ -46,6 +47,8 @@
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.TreeSet;
 import java.util.function.Predicate;
+import java.util.logging.Level;
+import java.util.logging.Logger;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
 
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.*;
@@ -54,6 +57,10 @@
  * Process and find all the Pipeline steps definied in Jenkins plugins.
  */
 public class PipelineStepExtractor {
+    private static final Logger LOG = Logger.getLogger(PipelineStepExtractor.class.getName());
+    static {
+        System.setProperty("java.util.logging.SimpleFormatter.format","[%4$-7s] %5$s %6$s%n");
+    }
     @Option(name="-homeDir",usage="Root directory of the plugin folder.  This serves as the root directory of the PluginManager.")
     public String homeDir = null;
     
@@ -69,18 +76,16 @@ public static void main(String[] args){
             CmdLineParser p = new CmdLineParser(pse);
             p.parseArgument(args);
         } catch(Exception ex){
-            ex.printStackTrace();
-            System.out.println("There was an error with parsing the commands, defaulting to the home directory.");
+            LOG.log(Level.SEVERE, "There was an error with parsing the commands, defaulting to the home directory.", ex);
         }
         try{
             Map<String, Map<String, List<QuasiDescriptor>>> steps = pse.findSteps();
             pse.generateAscii(steps, pse.pluginManager);
             pse.generateDeclarativeAscii();
         } catch(Exception ex){
-            ex.printStackTrace();
-            System.out.println("Error in finding all the steps");
+            LOG.log(Level.SEVERE, "Error in finding all the steps", ex);
         }
-        System.out.println("CONVERSION COMPLETE!");
+        LOG.info("CONVERSION COMPLETE!");
         System.exit(0); //otherwise environment hangs around
     }
 
@@ -128,8 +133,7 @@ public Map<String, Map<String, List<QuasiDescriptor>>> findSteps(){
                 completeListing.put(opt, exists);
             }
         } catch (Exception ex){
-            ex.printStackTrace();
-            //log exception, job essentially fails
+            LOG.log(Level.SEVERE, "Step generation failed", ex);
         }
 
         return completeListing;
@@ -206,7 +210,7 @@ protected void runTask(Task task) throws Exception {
         new InitReactorRunner() {
             @Override
             protected void onInitMilestoneAttained(InitMilestone milestone) {
-                System.out.println("init milestone attained " + milestone);
+                LOG.info("init milestone attained " + milestone);
             }
         }.run(reactor);
     }
@@ -239,7 +243,7 @@ public void generateAscii(Map<String, Map<String, List<QuasiDescriptor>>> allSte
         allAscii.mkdirs();
         String allAsciiPath = allAscii.getAbsolutePath();
         for(String plugin : allSteps.keySet()){
-            System.out.println("processing " + plugin);
+            LOG.info("processing " + plugin);
             Map<String, List<QuasiDescriptor>> byPlugin = allSteps.get(plugin);
             PluginWrapper thePlugin = pluginManager.getPlugin(plugin);
             String displayName = thePlugin == null ? "Jenkins Core" : thePlugin.getDisplayName();
@@ -248,8 +252,7 @@ public void generateAscii(Map<String, Map<String, List<QuasiDescriptor>>> allSte
             try {
                 FileUtils.writeStringToFile(new File(allAsciiPath, plugin + ".adoc"), whole9yards, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
             } catch (Exception ex){
-                ex.printStackTrace();
-                System.out.println("Error generating plugin file for " + plugin + ".  Skip.");
+                LOG.log(Level.SEVERE, "Error generating plugin file for " + plugin + ".  Skip.", ex);
                 //continue to next plugin
             }
         }
@@ -268,12 +271,12 @@ public void generateDeclarativeAscii() {
         Map<Class<? extends Descriptor>, Predicate<Descriptor>> filters = getDeclarativeFilters();
 
         for (Map.Entry<String,List<Class<? extends Descriptor>>> entry : getDeclarativeDirectives().entrySet()) {
-            System.out.println("Generating docs for directive " + entry.getKey());
+            LOG.info("Generating docs for directive " + entry.getKey());
             Map<String, List<Descriptor>> pluginDescMap = new HashMap<>();
 
             for (Class<? extends Descriptor> d : entry.getValue()) {
                 Predicate<Descriptor> filter = filters.get(d);
-                System.out.println(" - Loading descriptors of type " + d.getSimpleName() + " with filter: " + (filter != null));
+                LOG.info(" - Loading descriptors of type " + d.getSimpleName() + " with filter: " + (filter != null));
                 pluginDescMap = processDescriptors(d, pluginDescMap, filter);
             }
 
@@ -281,9 +284,8 @@ public void generateDeclarativeAscii() {
 
             try{
                 FileUtils.writeStringToFile(new File(declPath, entry.getKey() + ".adoc"), whole9yards, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
-            } catch (Exception ex){
-                ex.printStackTrace();
-                System.out.println("Error generating directive file for " + entry.getKey() + ".  Skip.");
+            } catch (Exception ex) {
+                LOG.log(Level.SEVERE, "Error generating directive file for " + entry.getKey() + ".  Skip.", ex);
                 //continue to next directive
             }
         }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/pipeline_steps_doc_generator/ToAsciiDoc.java b/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/pipeline_steps_doc_generator/ToAsciiDoc.java
index b67b3ec..acf42f3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/pipeline_steps_doc_generator/ToAsciiDoc.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/pipeline_steps_doc_generator/ToAsciiDoc.java
@@ -28,12 +28,15 @@
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.Stack;
+import java.util.logging.Level;
+import java.util.logging.Logger;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
 //fake out unit tests
 import hudson.Main;
 
 public class ToAsciiDoc {
+    private static final Logger LOG = Logger.getLogger(ToAsciiDoc.class.getName());
     /**
      * Keeps track of nested {@link DescribableModel#getType()} to avoid recursion.
      */
@@ -81,6 +84,7 @@ private static String describeType(ParameterType type) throws Exception {
             }
         } else if (type instanceof ErrorType) { //Shouldn't hit this; open a ticket
             Exception x = ((ErrorType) type).getError();
+            LOG.log(Level.FINE, "Encountered ErrorType object with exception:" + x);
             if(x instanceof NoStaplerConstructorException || x instanceof UnsupportedOperationException) {
                 String msg = x.toString();
                 typeInfo.append("<code>").append(msg.substring(msg.lastIndexOf(" ")).trim()).append("</code>\n");
@@ -99,8 +103,13 @@ private static String generateAttrHelp(DescribableParameter param) throws Except
         if (help != null && !help.equals("")) {
             attrHelp.append(helpify(help)).append("\n");
         }
-        ParameterType type = param.getType();
-        attrHelp.append("<ul>").append(describeType(type)).append("</ul>");
+        try {
+            String typeDesc = describeType(param.getType());
+            attrHelp.append("<ul>").append(typeDesc).append("</ul>");
+        } catch (RuntimeException | Error ex) {
+            LOG.log(Level.WARNING, "Restricted description of attribute "
+                + param.getName(), ex);
+        }
         return attrHelp.toString();
     }
 
@@ -164,7 +173,7 @@ public static String generateStepHelp(QuasiDescriptor d){
             }
         } catch (Exception | Error ex) {
             mkDesc.append("<code>").append(ex).append("</code>");
-            System.out.println("Description of " + d.real.clazz + " skipped, encountered " + ex);
+            LOG.log(Level.SEVERE, "Description of " + d.real.clazz + " skipped, encountered ", ex);
         }
         return mkDesc.append("\n\n\n++++\n").toString();
     }
@@ -174,7 +183,7 @@ private static void appendSimpleStepDescription(StringBuilder mkDesc, Class<?> c
             mkDesc.append(generateHelp(new DescribableModel<>(clazz), true));
         } catch (Exception ex) {
             mkDesc.append(getHelp("help.html", clazz));
-            System.out.println("Description of " + clazz + " restricted, encountered " + ex);
+            LOG.log(Level.WARNING, "Description of " + clazz + " restricted, encountered ", ex);
         }
 	}
 
@@ -207,14 +216,10 @@ private static String generateDescribableHelp(Descriptor<?> d) {
                 StringBuilder mkDesc = new StringBuilder(header(3)).append(" `").append(symbols.iterator().next()).append("`: ").append(d.getDisplayName()).append("\n");
                 try {
                     mkDesc.append(generateHelp(new DescribableModel<>(d.clazz), true)).append("\n\n");
-                } catch (Exception ex) {
-                    ex.printStackTrace();
+                } catch (Exception | Error ex) {
+                    LOG.log(Level.SEVERE, "Problem generating help for descriptor", ex);
                     // backtick-plus for safety - monospace literal string
                     mkDesc.append("`+").append(ex).append("+`\n\n");
-                } catch (Error err) {
-                    err.printStackTrace();
-                    // backtick-plus for safety - monospace literal string
-                    mkDesc.append("`+").append(err).append("+`\n\n");
                 }
                 return mkDesc.toString();
             } else {