diff --git a/.golangci.yml b/.golangci.yml
index b672a52652..9ccc39b8e2 100644
--- a/.golangci.yml
+++ b/.golangci.yml
@@ -6,16 +6,25 @@ linters:
   disable:
     - gocyclo
     - gochecknoinits
-    - golint
     - gochecknoglobals
     - dupl
     - interfacer
-    - gosec
     - unparam
     - lll
     - maligned
     - nakedret
     - errcheck
     - scopelint
-    - prealloc
     - varcheck
+
+issues:
+  exclude-rules:
+    - text: "Use of weak random number generator"
+      linters:
+        - gosec
+    - text: "comment on exported var"
+      linters:
+        - golint
+    - text: "don't use an underscore in package name"
+      linters:
+        - golint
diff --git a/baseapp/baseapp.go b/baseapp/baseapp.go
index f284cc9030..6053937df3 100644
--- a/baseapp/baseapp.go
+++ b/baseapp/baseapp.go
@@ -631,8 +631,8 @@ func (app *BaseApp) runTx(mode runTxMode, txBytes []byte, tx sdk.Tx) (result sdk
 func (app *BaseApp) runMsgs(ctx sdk.Context, msgs []sdk.Msg, mode runTxMode) (result sdk.Result) {
 	msgLogs := make(sdk.ABCIMessageLogs, 0, len(msgs))
 
+	data := make([]byte, 0, len(msgs))
 	var (
-		data      []byte
 		code      sdk.CodeType
 		codespace sdk.CodespaceType
 	)
diff --git a/baseapp/baseapp_test.go b/baseapp/baseapp_test.go
index d9c9fd3dce..46ac690829 100644
--- a/baseapp/baseapp_test.go
+++ b/baseapp/baseapp_test.go
@@ -540,7 +540,7 @@ func (msg msgCounter) ValidateBasic() sdk.Error {
 }
 
 func newTxCounter(txInt int64, msgInts ...int64) *txTest {
-	var msgs []sdk.Msg
+	msgs := make([]sdk.Msg, 0, len(msgInts))
 	for _, msgInt := range msgInts {
 		msgs = append(msgs, msgCounter{msgInt, false})
 	}
diff --git a/server/mock/store.go b/server/mock/store.go
index 03c01c0940..bf8e66a4dc 100644
--- a/server/mock/store.go
+++ b/server/mock/store.go
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ func (ms multiStore) CacheMultiStore() sdk.CacheMultiStore {
 	panic("not implemented")
 }
 
-func (kv multiStore) CacheMultiStoreWithVersion(_ int64) (sdk.CacheMultiStore, error) {
+func (ms multiStore) CacheMultiStoreWithVersion(_ int64) (sdk.CacheMultiStore, error) {
 	panic("not implemented")
 }
 
diff --git a/types/errors/errors.go b/types/errors/errors.go
index 77cd698f18..642c433d90 100644
--- a/types/errors/errors.go
+++ b/types/errors/errors.go
@@ -153,23 +153,23 @@ func (e Error) Codespace() string {
 
 // Is check if given error instance is of a given kind/type. This involves
 // unwrapping given error using the Cause method if available.
-func (kind *Error) Is(err error) bool {
+func (e *Error) Is(err error) bool {
 	// Reflect usage is necessary to correctly compare with
 	// a nil implementation of an error.
-	if kind == nil {
+	if e == nil {
 		return isNilErr(err)
 	}
 
 	for {
-		if err == kind {
+		if err == e {
 			return true
 		}
 
 		// If this is a collection of errors, this function must return
 		// true if at least one from the group match.
 		if u, ok := err.(unpacker); ok {
-			for _, e := range u.Unpack() {
-				if kind.Is(e) {
+			for _, er := range u.Unpack() {
+				if e.Is(er) {
 					return true
 				}
 			}
diff --git a/types/events.go b/types/events.go
index 87c95c3bab..019a53f1f6 100644
--- a/types/events.go
+++ b/types/events.go
@@ -174,11 +174,8 @@ func (se StringEvents) Flatten() StringEvents {
 	for _, e := range se {
 		flatEvents[e.Type] = append(flatEvents[e.Type], e.Attributes...)
 	}
-
-	var (
-		res  StringEvents
-		keys []string
-	)
+	keys := make([]string, 0, len(flatEvents))
+	res := make(StringEvents, 0, len(flatEvents)) // appeneded to keys, same length of what is allocated to keys
 
 	for ty := range flatEvents {
 		keys = append(keys, ty)
@@ -209,7 +206,7 @@ func StringifyEvent(e abci.Event) StringEvent {
 // StringifyEvents converts a slice of Event objects into a slice of StringEvent
 // objects.
 func StringifyEvents(events []abci.Event) StringEvents {
-	var res StringEvents
+	res := make(StringEvents, 0, len(events))
 
 	for _, e := range events {
 		res = append(res, StringifyEvent(e))
diff --git a/types/module/module.go b/types/module/module.go
index 89b8d92715..924c998342 100644
--- a/types/module/module.go
+++ b/types/module/module.go
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ type Manager struct {
 func NewManager(modules ...AppModule) *Manager {
 
 	moduleMap := make(map[string]AppModule)
-	var modulesStr []string
+	modulesStr := make([]string, 0, len(modules))
 	for _, module := range modules {
 		moduleMap[module.Name()] = module
 		modulesStr = append(modulesStr, module.Name())
diff --git a/x/auth/types/stdtx.go b/x/auth/types/stdtx.go
index 9e71b1127d..945d9afd86 100644
--- a/x/auth/types/stdtx.go
+++ b/x/auth/types/stdtx.go
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ type StdSignDoc struct {
 
 // StdSignBytes returns the bytes to sign for a transaction.
 func StdSignBytes(chainID string, accnum uint64, sequence uint64, fee StdFee, msgs []sdk.Msg, memo string) []byte {
-	var msgsBytes []json.RawMessage
+	msgsBytes := make([]json.RawMessage, 0, len(msgs))
 	for _, msg := range msgs {
 		msgsBytes = append(msgsBytes, json.RawMessage(msg.GetSignBytes()))
 	}
diff --git a/x/distribution/client/common/common.go b/x/distribution/client/common/common.go
index 077933f037..44c08e8d5f 100644
--- a/x/distribution/client/common/common.go
+++ b/x/distribution/client/common/common.go
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ func WithdrawAllDelegatorRewards(cliCtx context.CLIContext, queryRoute string, d
 	}
 
 	// build multi-message transaction
-	var msgs []sdk.Msg
+	msgs := make([]sdk.Msg, 0, len(validators))
 	for _, valAddr := range validators {
 		msg := types.NewMsgWithdrawDelegatorReward(delegatorAddr, valAddr)
 		if err := msg.ValidateBasic(); err != nil {
diff --git a/x/genutil/client/cli/migrate.go b/x/genutil/client/cli/migrate.go
index 3702b8a87e..5d2e69abd3 100644
--- a/x/genutil/client/cli/migrate.go
+++ b/x/genutil/client/cli/migrate.go
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ var migrationMap = extypes.MigrationMap{
 
 const (
 	flagGenesisTime = "genesis-time"
-	flagChainId     = "chain-id"
+	flagChainID     = "chain-id"
 )
 
 func MigrateGenesisCmd(_ *server.Context, cdc *codec.Codec) *cobra.Command {
@@ -72,9 +72,9 @@ $ %s migrate v0.36 /path/to/genesis.json --chain-id=cosmoshub-3 --genesis-time=2
 				genDoc.GenesisTime = t
 			}
 
-			chainId := cmd.Flag(flagChainId).Value.String()
-			if chainId != "" {
-				genDoc.ChainID = chainId
+			chainID := cmd.Flag(flagChainID).Value.String()
+			if chainID != "" {
+				genDoc.ChainID = chainID
 			}
 
 			out, err := cdc.MarshalJSONIndent(genDoc, "", "  ")
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ $ %s migrate v0.36 /path/to/genesis.json --chain-id=cosmoshub-3 --genesis-time=2
 	}
 
 	cmd.Flags().String(flagGenesisTime, "", "Override genesis_time with this flag")
-	cmd.Flags().String(flagChainId, "", "Override chain_id with this flag")
+	cmd.Flags().String(flagChainID, "", "Override chain_id with this flag")
 
 	return cmd
 }
diff --git a/x/genutil/client/cli/migrate_test.go b/x/genutil/client/cli/migrate_test.go
index 4df0ebdbbc..de83d3d2a5 100644
--- a/x/genutil/client/cli/migrate_test.go
+++ b/x/genutil/client/cli/migrate_test.go
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/tests"
 )
 
-func setupCmd(genesisTime string, chainId string) *cobra.Command {
+func setupCmd(genesisTime string, chainID string) *cobra.Command {
 	c := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:  "c",
 		Args: cobra.ArbitraryArgs,
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ func setupCmd(genesisTime string, chainId string) *cobra.Command {
 	}
 
 	c.Flags().String(flagGenesisTime, genesisTime, "")
-	c.Flags().String(flagChainId, chainId, "")
+	c.Flags().String(flagChainID, chainID, "")
 
 	return c
 }
diff --git a/x/genutil/gentx.go b/x/genutil/gentx.go
index c9f55c3e84..dce958f063 100644
--- a/x/genutil/gentx.go
+++ b/x/genutil/gentx.go
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ func SetGenTxsInAppGenesisState(cdc *codec.Codec, appGenesisState map[string]jso
 
 	genesisState := GetGenesisStateFromAppState(cdc, appGenesisState)
 	// convert all the GenTxs to JSON
-	var genTxsBz []json.RawMessage
+	genTxsBz := make([]json.RawMessage, 0, len(genTxs))
 	for _, genTx := range genTxs {
 		txBz, err := cdc.MarshalJSON(genTx)
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/x/gov/module.go b/x/gov/module.go
index bbcd22498a..26b238f1e9 100644
--- a/x/gov/module.go
+++ b/x/gov/module.go
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ func (AppModuleBasic) ValidateGenesis(bz json.RawMessage) error {
 
 // RegisterRESTRoutes registers the REST routes for the gov module.
 func (a AppModuleBasic) RegisterRESTRoutes(ctx context.CLIContext, rtr *mux.Router) {
-	var proposalRESTHandlers []rest.ProposalRESTHandler
+	proposalRESTHandlers := make([]rest.ProposalRESTHandler, 0, len(a.proposalHandlers))
 	for _, proposalHandler := range a.proposalHandlers {
 		proposalRESTHandlers = append(proposalRESTHandlers, proposalHandler.RESTHandler(ctx))
 	}
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ func (a AppModuleBasic) RegisterRESTRoutes(ctx context.CLIContext, rtr *mux.Rout
 // GetTxCmd returns the root tx command for the gov module.
 func (a AppModuleBasic) GetTxCmd(cdc *codec.Codec) *cobra.Command {
 
-	var proposalCLIHandlers []*cobra.Command
+	proposalCLIHandlers := make([]*cobra.Command, 0, len(a.proposalHandlers))
 	for _, proposalHandler := range a.proposalHandlers {
 		proposalCLIHandlers = append(proposalCLIHandlers, proposalHandler.CLIHandler(cdc))
 	}