diff --git a/gtsam/base/FastSet.h b/gtsam/base/FastSet.h
index 29fb3fcd9..4ef963f5d 100644
--- a/gtsam/base/FastSet.h
+++ b/gtsam/base/FastSet.h
@@ -19,14 +19,14 @@
 #pragma once
 
 #include <gtsam/base/FastDefaultAllocator.h>
-#include <set>
-#include <iostream>
-#include <string>
-#include <cmath>
 #include <boost/mpl/has_xxx.hpp>
 #include <boost/utility/enable_if.hpp>
 #include <boost/serialization/nvp.hpp>
 #include <boost/serialization/set.hpp>
+#include <set>
+#include <iostream>
+#include <string>
+#include <cmath>
 
 BOOST_MPL_HAS_XXX_TRAIT_DEF(print)
 
diff --git a/gtsam/base/Matrix.cpp b/gtsam/base/Matrix.cpp
index 7136db768..7fa0992ca 100644
--- a/gtsam/base/Matrix.cpp
+++ b/gtsam/base/Matrix.cpp
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@
 #include <gtsam/base/timing.h>
 #include <gtsam/base/Vector.h>
 #include <gtsam/base/FastList.h>
+#include <gtsam/3rdparty/Eigen/Eigen/SVD>  
+#include <gtsam/3rdparty/Eigen/Eigen/LU>
 
 #include <boost/foreach.hpp>
 #include <boost/tuple/tuple.hpp>
@@ -32,9 +34,6 @@
 #include <fstream>
 #include <limits>
 
-#include <gtsam/3rdparty/Eigen/Eigen/SVD>  
-#include <gtsam/3rdparty/Eigen/Eigen/LU>
-
 using namespace std;
 
 namespace gtsam {
@@ -183,6 +182,7 @@ void transposeMultiplyAdd(double alpha, const Matrix& A, const Vector& e, SubVec
 }
 
 /* ************************************************************************* */
+//3 argument call
 void print(const Matrix& A, const string &s, ostream& stream) {
   size_t m = A.rows(), n = A.cols();
 
@@ -201,6 +201,12 @@ void print(const Matrix& A, const string &s, ostream& stream) {
   stream << "];" << endl;
 }
 
+/* ************************************************************************* */
+//1 or 2 argument call
+void print(const Matrix& A, const string &s){
+  print(A, s, cout);
+}
+
 /* ************************************************************************* */
 void save(const Matrix& A, const string &s, const string& filename) {
   fstream stream(filename.c_str(), fstream::out | fstream::app);
diff --git a/gtsam/base/Matrix.h b/gtsam/base/Matrix.h
index fc9f27099..27b7ec8f7 100644
--- a/gtsam/base/Matrix.h
+++ b/gtsam/base/Matrix.h
@@ -22,12 +22,12 @@
 
 #pragma once
 #include <gtsam/base/Vector.h>
-#include <boost/format.hpp>
-#include <boost/tuple/tuple.hpp>
 #include <boost/math/special_functions/fpclassify.hpp>
 #include <gtsam/3rdparty/Eigen/Eigen/Core>
 #include <gtsam/3rdparty/Eigen/Eigen/Cholesky>
 #include <gtsam/3rdparty/Eigen/Eigen/LU>
+#include <boost/format.hpp>
+#include <boost/tuple/tuple.hpp>
 
 
 /**
@@ -201,9 +201,14 @@ inline MATRIX prod(const MATRIX& A, const MATRIX&B) {
 }
 
 /**
- * print a matrix
+ * print without optional string, must specify cout yourself
  */
-GTSAM_EXPORT void print(const Matrix& A, const std::string& s = "", std::ostream& stream = std::cout);
+GTSAM_EXPORT void print(const Matrix& A, const std::string& s, std::ostream& stream);
+
+/**
+ * print with optional string to cout
+ */
+GTSAM_EXPORT void print(const Matrix& A, const std::string& s = "");
 
 /**
  * save a matrix to file, which can be loaded by matlab
diff --git a/gtsam/base/Value.h b/gtsam/base/Value.h
index a12f453f4..70677cad1 100644
--- a/gtsam/base/Value.h
+++ b/gtsam/base/Value.h
@@ -18,9 +18,10 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
-#include <memory>
-#include <boost/serialization/assume_abstract.hpp>
 #include <gtsam/base/Vector.h>
+#include <boost/serialization/assume_abstract.hpp>
+#include <memory>
+
 
 namespace gtsam {
 
diff --git a/gtsam/base/Vector.cpp b/gtsam/base/Vector.cpp
index 1b145a116..0a708427a 100644
--- a/gtsam/base/Vector.cpp
+++ b/gtsam/base/Vector.cpp
@@ -16,20 +16,18 @@
  * @author  Frank Dellaert
  */
 
-
+#include <gtsam/base/Vector.h>
+#include <boost/foreach.hpp>
+#include <boost/optional.hpp>
+#include <stdexcept>
 #include <cstdarg>
 #include <limits>
 #include <fstream>
 #include <sstream>
 #include <iomanip>
 #include <cmath>
-#include <stdexcept>
-#include <boost/foreach.hpp>
-#include <boost/optional.hpp>
 #include <cstdio>
 #include <vector>
-#include <gtsam/base/Vector.h>
-
 
 using namespace std;
 
@@ -55,6 +53,7 @@ Vector delta(size_t n, size_t i, double value) {
 }
 
 /* ************************************************************************* */
+//3 argument call
 void print(const Vector& v, const string& s, ostream& stream) {
   size_t n = v.size();
 
@@ -65,6 +64,12 @@ void print(const Vector& v, const string& s, ostream& stream) {
   stream << "];" << endl;
 }
 
+/* ************************************************************************* */
+//1 or 2 argument call
+void print(const Vector& v, const string& s) {
+    print(v, s, cout);
+}
+
 /* ************************************************************************* */
 void save(const Vector& v, const string &s, const string& filename) {
   fstream stream(filename.c_str(), fstream::out | fstream::app);
diff --git a/gtsam/base/Vector.h b/gtsam/base/Vector.h
index 1c433eb4a..2d333848b 100644
--- a/gtsam/base/Vector.h
+++ b/gtsam/base/Vector.h
@@ -20,10 +20,11 @@
 
 
 #pragma once
-#include <list>
 #include <gtsam/global_includes.h>
 #include <gtsam/3rdparty/Eigen/Eigen/Core>
-#include <iostream>
+#include <iosfwd>
+#include <list>
+
 namespace gtsam {
 
 // Vector is just a typedef of the Eigen dynamic vector type
@@ -95,9 +96,14 @@ GTSAM_EXPORT bool zero(const Vector& v);
 inline size_t dim(const Vector& v) { return v.size(); }
 
 /**
- * print with optional string
+ * print without optional string, must specify cout yourself
  */
-GTSAM_EXPORT void print(const Vector& v, const std::string& s = "", std::ostream& stream = std::cout);
+GTSAM_EXPORT void print(const Vector& v, const std::string& s, std::ostream& stream);
+
+/**
+ * print with optional string to cout
+ */
+GTSAM_EXPORT void print(const Vector& v, const std::string& s = "");
 
 /**
  * save a vector to file, which can be loaded by matlab
diff --git a/gtsam/base/types.cpp b/gtsam/base/types.cpp
index 4f61c6a1d..03e7fd120 100644
--- a/gtsam/base/types.cpp
+++ b/gtsam/base/types.cpp
@@ -17,9 +17,9 @@
  * @addtogroup base
  */
 
-#include <boost/lexical_cast.hpp>
 #include <gtsam/base/types.h>
 #include <gtsam/inference/Symbol.h>
+#include <boost/lexical_cast.hpp>
 
 namespace gtsam {
 
diff --git a/gtsam/base/types.h b/gtsam/base/types.h
index 122bc18a0..a66db13c8 100644
--- a/gtsam/base/types.h
+++ b/gtsam/base/types.h
@@ -21,12 +21,12 @@
 
 #include <gtsam/dllexport.h>
 #include <gtsam/config.h>
-#include <cstddef>
-#include <string>
-#include <ostream>
 #include <boost/function/function1.hpp>
 #include <boost/range/concepts.hpp>
 #include <boost/optional.hpp>
+#include <cstddef>
+#include <string>
+#include <ostream>
 
 #ifdef GTSAM_USE_TBB
 #include <tbb/task_scheduler_init.h>