diff --git a/appengine/analytics/pom.xml b/appengine/analytics/pom.xml
index b555423a5d6..f03f02548af 100644
--- a/appengine/analytics/pom.xml
+++ b/appengine/analytics/pom.xml
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@
     <!-- for hot reload of the web application -->
     <outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/${project.build.finalName}/WEB-INF/classes</outputDirectory>
     <plugins>
-      <!-- Parent POM defines ${appengine.sdk.version} (updates frequently). -->
       <plugin>
         <groupId>com.google.appengine</groupId>
         <artifactId>appengine-maven-plugin</artifactId>
diff --git a/appengine/datastore/indexes-exploding/src/test/java/com/example/appengine/IndexesServletTest.java b/appengine/datastore/indexes-exploding/src/test/java/com/example/appengine/IndexesServletTest.java
index 09fe078b71e..f026ffb650a 100644
--- a/appengine/datastore/indexes-exploding/src/test/java/com/example/appengine/IndexesServletTest.java
+++ b/appengine/datastore/indexes-exploding/src/test/java/com/example/appengine/IndexesServletTest.java
@@ -84,7 +84,9 @@ public void doGet_emptyDatastore_writesNoWidgets() throws Exception {
 
   @Test
   public void doGet_repeatedPropertyEntities_writesWidgets() throws Exception {
+    //CHECKSTYLE.OFF: VariableDeclarationUsageDistance - readability
     DatastoreService datastore = DatastoreServiceFactory.getDatastoreService();
+    //CHECKSTYLE.ON: VariableDeclarationUsageDistance
     // [START exploding_index_example_3]
     Entity widget = new Entity("Widget");
     widget.setProperty("x", Arrays.asList(1, 2, 3, 4));
diff --git a/appengine/datastore/pom.xml b/appengine/datastore/pom.xml
index d8c977bd2b0..a60f207862f 100644
--- a/appengine/datastore/pom.xml
+++ b/appengine/datastore/pom.xml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 -->
 <project>
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
-  <packaging>war</packaging>
+  <packaging>pom</packaging>
   <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
   <groupId>com.example.appengine</groupId>
   <artifactId>appengine-datastore</artifactId>
diff --git a/appengine/firebase-tictactoe/pom.xml b/appengine/firebase-tictactoe/pom.xml
index 21f49ab9081..b986a824448 100644
--- a/appengine/firebase-tictactoe/pom.xml
+++ b/appengine/firebase-tictactoe/pom.xml
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@
         <version>1.0.7</version>
     </parent>
 
+    <properties>
+        <maven.compiler.target>1.7</maven.compiler.target>
+        <maven.compiler.source>1.7</maven.compiler.source>
+    </properties>
+
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>com.googlecode.objectify</groupId>
diff --git a/appengine/firebase-tictactoe/src/test/java/com/example/appengine/firetactoe/MoveServletTest.java b/appengine/firebase-tictactoe/src/test/java/com/example/appengine/firetactoe/MoveServletTest.java
index 814d7a6fc8e..843d5c5cecc 100644
--- a/appengine/firebase-tictactoe/src/test/java/com/example/appengine/firetactoe/MoveServletTest.java
+++ b/appengine/firebase-tictactoe/src/test/java/com/example/appengine/firetactoe/MoveServletTest.java
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.BeforeClass;
+import org.junit.Ignore;
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
 import org.junit.runners.JUnit4;
@@ -148,6 +149,7 @@ public LowLevelHttpResponse execute() throws IOException {
         eq("PATCH"), Matchers.matches(FIREBASE_DB_URL + "/channels/[\\w-]+.json$"));
   }
 
+  @Ignore
   public void doPost_notMyTurn_move() throws Exception {
     // Insert a game
     Objectify ofy = ObjectifyService.ofy();
diff --git a/appengine/pom.xml b/appengine/pom.xml
index 23085a91e60..75fa4e476dc 100644
--- a/appengine/pom.xml
+++ b/appengine/pom.xml
@@ -14,12 +14,22 @@
  limitations under the License.
 -->
 <project>
-    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
-    <version>1.0.0</version>
+  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+  <version>1.0.0</version>
+  <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
+  <artifactId>appengine-doc-samples</artifactId>
+  <packaging>pom</packaging>
+
+  <!--
+    The parent pom defines common style checks and testing strategies for our samples.
+    Removing or replacing it should not effect the execution of the samples in anyway.
+  -->
+  <parent>
+    <groupId>com.google.cloud.samples</groupId>
+    <artifactId>shared-configuration</artifactId>
+    <version>1.0.7</version>
+  </parent>
 
-    <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
-    <artifactId>appengine-doc-samples</artifactId>
-    <packaging>pom</packaging>
 
     <modules>
         <!-- App Engine Standard -->
diff --git a/appengine/taskqueue/pull-samples/src/main/java/com/example/taskqueue/TaskqueueServlet.java b/appengine/taskqueue/pull-samples/src/main/java/com/example/taskqueue/TaskqueueServlet.java
index ff0fa4215c5..b6e0ff7536c 100644
--- a/appengine/taskqueue/pull-samples/src/main/java/com/example/taskqueue/TaskqueueServlet.java
+++ b/appengine/taskqueue/pull-samples/src/main/java/com/example/taskqueue/TaskqueueServlet.java
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
 
-/**
+/*
  * Form Handling Servlet
  * This servlet has one method
  * {@link #doPost(<#HttpServletRequest req#>, <#HttpServletResponse resp#>)} which takes the form