diff --git a/algebricks/algebricks-data/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/data/impl/UTF8StringPrinterFactory.java b/algebricks/algebricks-data/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/data/impl/UTF8StringPrinterFactory.java
index 8aa646e..1aa3370 100644
--- a/algebricks/algebricks-data/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/data/impl/UTF8StringPrinterFactory.java
+++ b/algebricks/algebricks-data/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/data/impl/UTF8StringPrinterFactory.java
@@ -18,12 +18,13 @@
  */
 package org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.data.impl;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.PrintStream;
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.common.exceptions.AlgebricksException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.data.IPrinter;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.data.IPrinterFactory;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
 
 public class UTF8StringPrinterFactory implements IPrinterFactory {
 
@@ -40,22 +41,11 @@
 
             @Override
             public void print(byte[] b, int s, int l, PrintStream ps) throws AlgebricksException {
-                int strlen = UTF8StringPointable.getUTFLength(b, s);
-                int pos = s + 2;
-                int maxPos = pos + strlen;
-                ps.print("\"");
-                while (pos < maxPos) {
-                    char c = UTF8StringPointable.charAt(b, pos);
-                    switch (c) {
-                        case '\\':
-                        case '"':
-                            ps.print('\\');
-                            break;
-                    }
-                    ps.print(c);
-                    pos += UTF8StringPointable.charSize(b, pos);
+                try {
+                    UTF8StringUtil.printUTF8StringWithQuotes(b, s, l, ps);
+                } catch (IOException e) {
+                    throw new AlgebricksException(e);
                 }
-                ps.print("\"");
             }
 
             @Override
diff --git a/algebricks/algebricks-data/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/data/utils/WriteValueTools.java b/algebricks/algebricks-data/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/data/utils/WriteValueTools.java
index 8a96ea6..97e7d95 100644
--- a/algebricks/algebricks-data/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/data/utils/WriteValueTools.java
+++ b/algebricks/algebricks-data/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/data/utils/WriteValueTools.java
@@ -20,14 +20,16 @@
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
+import java.io.PrintStream;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
 
 public final class WriteValueTools {
 
     private final static int[] INT_INTERVALS = { 9, 99, 999, 9999, 99999, 999999, 9999999, 99999999, 999999999,
             Integer.MAX_VALUE };
-    private final static int[] INT_DIVIDERS = { 10, 100, 1000, 10000, 100000, 1000000, 10000000, 100000000, 1000000000 };
+    private final static int[] INT_DIVIDERS = { 10, 100, 1000, 10000, 100000, 1000000, 10000000, 100000000,
+            1000000000 };
     private final static int[] DIGITS = { '0', '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9' };
 
     public static void writeInt(int i, OutputStream os) throws IOException {
@@ -75,50 +77,11 @@
         os.write(DIGITS[(int) (d % 10)]);
     }
 
-    public static void writeUTF8String(byte[] b, int s, int l, OutputStream os) throws IOException {
-        int stringLength = UTF8StringPointable.getUTFLength(b, s);
-        int position = s + 2;
-        int maxPosition = position + stringLength;
-        os.write('\"');
-        while (position < maxPosition) {
-            char c = UTF8StringPointable.charAt(b, position);
-            switch (c) {
-            // escape
-                case '\\':
-                case '"':
-                    os.write('\\');
-                    break;
-            }
-            int sz = UTF8StringPointable.charSize(b, position);
-            while (sz > 0) {
-                os.write(b[position]);
-                position++;
-                sz--;
-            }
-        }
-        os.write('\"');
+    public static void writeUTF8StringWithQuotes(String string, OutputStream ps) throws IOException {
+        UTF8StringUtil.printUTF8StringWithQuotes(string, ps);
     }
 
-    public static void writeUTF8StringNoQuotes(byte[] b, int s, int l, OutputStream os) throws IOException {
-        int stringLength = UTF8StringPointable.getUTFLength(b, s);
-        int position = s + 2;
-        int maxPosition = position + stringLength;
-        while (position < maxPosition) {
-            char c = UTF8StringPointable.charAt(b, position);
-            switch (c) {
-            // escape
-                case '\\':
-                case '"':
-                    os.write('\\');
-                    break;
-            }
-            int sz = UTF8StringPointable.charSize(b, position);
-            while (sz > 0) {
-                os.write(b[position]);
-                position++;
-                sz--;
-            }
-        }
+    public static void writeUTF8StringNoQuotes(String string, OutputStream ps) throws IOException {
+        UTF8StringUtil.printUTF8StringNoQuotes(string, ps);
     }
-
 }
diff --git a/algebricks/algebricks-examples/piglet-example/pom.xml b/algebricks/algebricks-examples/piglet-example/pom.xml
index a037db5..ae2ec51 100644
--- a/algebricks/algebricks-examples/piglet-example/pom.xml
+++ b/algebricks/algebricks-examples/piglet-example/pom.xml
@@ -111,5 +111,10 @@
       <artifactId>algebricks-compiler</artifactId>
       <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
     </dependency>
+      <dependency>
+          <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+          <artifactId>hyracks-util</artifactId>
+          <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+      </dependency>
   </dependencies>
 </project>
diff --git a/algebricks/algebricks-examples/piglet-example/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/examples/piglet/compiler/PigletPrinterFactoryProvider.java b/algebricks/algebricks-examples/piglet-example/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/examples/piglet/compiler/PigletPrinterFactoryProvider.java
index 6d64741..8049594 100644
--- a/algebricks/algebricks-examples/piglet-example/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/examples/piglet/compiler/PigletPrinterFactoryProvider.java
+++ b/algebricks/algebricks-examples/piglet-example/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/examples/piglet/compiler/PigletPrinterFactoryProvider.java
@@ -29,7 +29,9 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.data.utils.WriteValueTools;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.examples.piglet.types.Type;
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.FloatPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.marshalling.FloatSerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
 
 public class PigletPrinterFactoryProvider implements IPrinterFactoryProvider {
 
@@ -73,7 +75,7 @@
                 @Override
                 public void print(byte[] b, int s, int l, PrintStream ps) throws AlgebricksException {
                     try {
-                        WriteValueTools.writeUTF8String(b, s, l, ps);
+                        UTF8StringUtil.printUTF8StringWithQuotes(b, s, l, ps);
                     } catch (IOException e) {
                         throw new AlgebricksException(e);
                     }
diff --git a/algebricks/algebricks-examples/piglet-example/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/examples/piglet/metadata/PigletMetadataProvider.java b/algebricks/algebricks-examples/piglet-example/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/examples/piglet/metadata/PigletMetadataProvider.java
index 7d9b3db..8f9ab9f 100644
--- a/algebricks/algebricks-examples/piglet-example/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/examples/piglet/metadata/PigletMetadataProvider.java
+++ b/algebricks/algebricks-examples/piglet-example/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/examples/piglet/metadata/PigletMetadataProvider.java
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@
 
                 case CHAR_ARRAY:
                     vpf = UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE;
-                    serDeser = UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE;
+                    serDeser = new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer();
                     break;
 
                 case FLOAT:
diff --git a/algebricks/algebricks-examples/piglet-example/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/examples/piglet/runtime/PigletExpressionJobGen.java b/algebricks/algebricks-examples/piglet-example/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/examples/piglet/runtime/PigletExpressionJobGen.java
index 6c173b2..1c3f9b8 100644
--- a/algebricks/algebricks-examples/piglet-example/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/examples/piglet/runtime/PigletExpressionJobGen.java
+++ b/algebricks/algebricks-examples/piglet-example/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/examples/piglet/runtime/PigletExpressionJobGen.java
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.marshalling.UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer;
 
 public class PigletExpressionJobGen implements ILogicalExpressionJobGen {
+    private final UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer utf8SerDer = new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer();
+
     @Override
     public ICopyEvaluatorFactory createEvaluatorFactory(ILogicalExpression expr, IVariableTypeEnvironment env,
             IOperatorSchema[] inputSchemas, JobGenContext context) throws AlgebricksException {
@@ -74,7 +76,7 @@
 
                     case CHAR_ARRAY:
                         try {
-                            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE.serialize(image, dos);
+                            utf8SerDer.serialize(image, dos);
                         } catch (Exception e) {
                             throw new AlgebricksException(e);
                         }
diff --git a/algebricks/algebricks-examples/pom.xml b/algebricks/algebricks-examples/pom.xml
index 7ba1b5b..968db33 100644
--- a/algebricks/algebricks-examples/pom.xml
+++ b/algebricks/algebricks-examples/pom.xml
@@ -22,8 +22,15 @@
   <artifactId>algebricks-examples</artifactId>
   <packaging>pom</packaging>
   <name>algebricks-examples</name>
+    <dependencies>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+            <artifactId>algebricks-core</artifactId>
+            <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        </dependency>
+    </dependencies>
 
-  <parent>
+    <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
     <artifactId>algebricks</artifactId>
     <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
diff --git a/algebricks/algebricks-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/tests/pushruntime/PushRuntimeTest.java b/algebricks/algebricks-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/tests/pushruntime/PushRuntimeTest.java
index 3c97878..7fcab17 100644
--- a/algebricks/algebricks-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/tests/pushruntime/PushRuntimeTest.java
+++ b/algebricks/algebricks-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/tests/pushruntime/PushRuntimeTest.java
@@ -275,10 +275,10 @@
         IFileSplitProvider splitProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(fileSplits);
 
         RecordDescriptor scannerDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
         IValueParserFactory[] valueParsers = new IValueParserFactory[] { IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE,
                 UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE, UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE, IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE,
                 UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE, FloatParserFactory.INSTANCE, UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -355,10 +355,10 @@
                 "data/tpch0.001/customer-part1.tbl")));
         IFileSplitProvider splitProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(fileSplits);
         RecordDescriptor scannerDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
         IValueParserFactory[] valueParsers = new IValueParserFactory[] { IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE,
                 UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE, UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE, IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE,
                 UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE, FloatParserFactory.INSTANCE, UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -407,10 +407,10 @@
                 "data/tpch0.001/customer.tbl")));
         IFileSplitProvider splitProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(fileSplits);
         RecordDescriptor scannerDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
         IValueParserFactory[] valueParsers = new IValueParserFactory[] { IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE,
                 UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE, UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE, IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE,
                 UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE, FloatParserFactory.INSTANCE, UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -492,10 +492,10 @@
                 "data/tpch0.001/customer.tbl")));
         IFileSplitProvider splitProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(fileSplits);
         RecordDescriptor scannerDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
         IValueParserFactory[] valueParsers = new IValueParserFactory[] { IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE,
                 UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE, UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE, IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE,
                 UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE, FloatParserFactory.INSTANCE, UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -663,7 +663,7 @@
         DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory stringParser = new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(
                 new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE }, '\u0000');
         RecordDescriptor stringRec = new RecordDescriptor(
-                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, });
+                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor scanOp = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, new ConstantFileSplitProvider(
                 inputSplits), stringParser, stringRec);
@@ -709,8 +709,8 @@
                 "data/tpch0.001/nation.tbl")));
         IFileSplitProvider splitProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(fileSplits);
         RecordDescriptor scannerDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
         IValueParserFactory[] valueParsers = new IValueParserFactory[] { IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE,
                 UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE, IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE, UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE };
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor scanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, splitProvider,
@@ -817,10 +817,10 @@
                 "data/tpch0.001/customer.tbl")));
         IFileSplitProvider splitProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(fileSplits);
         RecordDescriptor scannerDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
         IValueParserFactory[] valueParsers = new IValueParserFactory[] { IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE,
                 UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE, UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE, IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE,
                 UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE, FloatParserFactory.INSTANCE, UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
diff --git a/algebricks/algebricks-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/tests/tools/WriteValueTest.java b/algebricks/algebricks-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/tests/tools/WriteValueTest.java
index 0968478..6770494 100644
--- a/algebricks/algebricks-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/tests/tools/WriteValueTest.java
+++ b/algebricks/algebricks-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/tests/tools/WriteValueTest.java
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@
         interm.reset();
         dout.writeUTF(str);
         baaos.reset();
-        WriteValueTools.writeUTF8String(interm.getByteArray(), 0, interm.size(), baaos);
+        WriteValueTools.writeUTF8StringWithQuotes(str, baaos);
         byte[] b = str.getBytes("UTF-8");
         if (baaos.size() != b.length + 2) {
             throw new Exception("Expecting to write " + b + " in " + b.length + " bytes, but found " + baaos.size()
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/pom.xml b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/pom.xml
index 8546bdb..20c30ef 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/pom.xml
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/pom.xml
@@ -17,23 +17,35 @@
  ! under the License.
  !-->
 
-<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">
-  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
-  <artifactId>hyracks-data-std</artifactId>
-  <name>hyracks-data-std</name>
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">
+    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+    <artifactId>hyracks-data-std</artifactId>
+    <name>hyracks-data-std</name>
 
-  <parent>
-    <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
-    <artifactId>hyracks-data</artifactId>
-    <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
-  </parent>
+    <parent>
+        <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+        <artifactId>hyracks-data</artifactId>
+        <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    </parent>
 
-
-  <dependencies>
-  <dependency>
-  	<groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
-  	<artifactId>hyracks-api</artifactId>
-  	<version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
-  </dependency>
-  </dependencies>
+    <dependencies>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+            <artifactId>hyracks-util</artifactId>
+            <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+            <artifactId>hyracks-api</artifactId>
+            <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+            <artifactId>hyracks-util</artifactId>
+            <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+            <type>test-jar</type>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+    </dependencies>
 </project>
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/accessors/UTF8StringBinaryHashFunctionFamily.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/accessors/UTF8StringBinaryHashFunctionFamily.java
index affafea..ea661e3 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/accessors/UTF8StringBinaryHashFunctionFamily.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/accessors/UTF8StringBinaryHashFunctionFamily.java
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryHashFunction;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryHashFunctionFamily;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
 
 public class UTF8StringBinaryHashFunctionFamily implements IBinaryHashFunctionFamily {
     public static final IBinaryHashFunctionFamily INSTANCE = new UTF8StringBinaryHashFunctionFamily();
@@ -40,17 +40,7 @@
         return new IBinaryHashFunction() {
             @Override
             public int hash(byte[] bytes, int offset, int length) {
-                int h = 0;
-                int utflen = UTF8StringPointable.getUTFLength(bytes, offset);
-                int sStart = offset + 2;
-                int c = 0;
-
-                while (c < utflen) {
-                    char ch = UTF8StringPointable.charAt(bytes, sStart + c);
-                    h = (coefficient * h + ch) % r;
-                    c += UTF8StringPointable.charSize(bytes, sStart + c);
-                }
-                return h;
+                return UTF8StringUtil.hash(bytes, offset, coefficient, r);
             }
         };
     }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/api/AbstractPointable.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/api/AbstractPointable.java
index a10b0da..549a136 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/api/AbstractPointable.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/api/AbstractPointable.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
         this.bytes = bytes;
         this.start = start;
         this.length = length;
+        afterReset();
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -37,6 +38,13 @@
         set(pointer.getByteArray(), pointer.getStartOffset(), pointer.getLength());
     }
 
+    /**
+     * This method will be called after set the new bytes values.
+     * It could be used to reset the state of the inherited Pointable object.
+     */
+    protected void afterReset() {
+    }
+
     @Override
     public byte[] getByteArray() {
         return bytes;
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/ByteArrayPointable.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/ByteArrayPointable.java
index 0a2a723..af54c7e 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/ByteArrayPointable.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/ByteArrayPointable.java
@@ -19,10 +19,33 @@
 
 package org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.*;
+import java.io.Serializable;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 
-public class ByteArrayPointable extends AbstractPointable implements IHashable, IComparable {
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.AbstractPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IComparable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IHashable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointableFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IValueReference;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder;
+
+public class ByteArrayPointable extends AbstractPointable implements IHashable, IComparable, Serializable {
+
+    // These three values are cached to speed up the length data access.
+    // Since the we are using the variable-length encoding, we can save the repeated decoding efforts.
+    // WARNING: must call the resetConstants() method after each reset().
+    private int contentLength = -1;
+    private int metaLength = -1;
+    private int hash = 0;
+
+    @Override
+    protected void afterReset() {
+        contentLength = getContentLength(getByteArray(), getStartOffset());
+        metaLength = getNumberBytesToStoreMeta(contentLength);
+        hash = 0;
+    }
 
     public static final ITypeTraits TYPE_TRAITS = new ITypeTraits() {
         private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
@@ -58,48 +81,106 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public int compareTo(byte[] bytes, int start, int length) {
-        int thislen = getLength(this.bytes, this.start);
-        int thatlen = getLength(bytes, start);
+    public int compareTo(byte[] thatBytes, int thatStart, int thatLength) {
+        int thisArrayLen = getContentLength(this.bytes, this.start);
+        int thatArrayLen = getContentLength(thatBytes, thatStart);
 
-        for (int thisIndex = 0, thatIndex = 0; thisIndex < thislen && thatIndex < thatlen; ++thisIndex, ++thatIndex) {
-            if (this.bytes[this.start + SIZE_OF_LENGTH + thisIndex] != bytes[start + SIZE_OF_LENGTH + thatIndex]) {
-                return (0xff & this.bytes[this.start + SIZE_OF_LENGTH + thisIndex]) - (0xff & bytes[start + SIZE_OF_LENGTH
-                        + thatIndex]);
+        int thisArrayStart = this.getContentStartOffset();
+        int thatArrayStart = thatStart + getNumberBytesToStoreMeta(thatArrayLen);
+
+        for (int thisIndex = 0, thatIndex = 0;
+             thisIndex < thisArrayLen && thatIndex < thatArrayLen; ++thisIndex, ++thatIndex) {
+            if (this.bytes[thisArrayStart + thisIndex] != thatBytes[thatArrayStart + thatIndex]) {
+                return (0xff & this.bytes[thisArrayStart + thisIndex]) - (0xff & thatBytes[thatArrayStart + thatIndex]);
             }
         }
-        return thislen - thatlen;
+        return thisArrayLen - thatArrayLen;
+    }
+
+    public int getContentLength() {
+        return contentLength;
+    }
+
+    public int getMetaLength() {
+        return metaLength;
     }
 
     @Override
     public int hash() {
-        int h = 0;
-        int realLength = getLength(bytes, start);
-        for (int i = 0; i < realLength; ++i) {
-            h = 31 * h + bytes[start + SIZE_OF_LENGTH + i];
+        if (hash == 0) {
+            int h = 0;
+            int realLength = getContentLength();
+            int startOffset = getContentStartOffset();
+            for (int i = 0; i < realLength; ++i) {
+                h = 31 * h + bytes[startOffset + i];
+            }
+            hash = h;
         }
-        return h;
+        return hash;
     }
 
     @Override
-    public int getLength(){
-        return getFullLength(getByteArray(), getStartOffset());
+    public int getLength() {
+        return getContentLength() + getMetaLength();
     }
 
-    public static final int SIZE_OF_LENGTH = 2;
-    public static final int MAX_LENGTH = 65535;
-
-    public static int getLength(byte[] bytes, int offset) {
-        return ((0xFF & bytes[offset]) << 8) + (0xFF & bytes[offset + 1]);
+    public int getContentStartOffset() {
+        return getStartOffset() + getMetaLength();
     }
 
-    public static int getFullLength(byte[] bytes, int offset){
-        return getLength(bytes, offset) + SIZE_OF_LENGTH;
+    ///////////////// helper functions ////////////////////////////////
+    public static byte[] copyContent(ByteArrayPointable bytePtr) {
+        return Arrays.copyOfRange(bytePtr.getByteArray(), bytePtr.getContentStartOffset(),
+                bytePtr.getContentStartOffset() + bytePtr.getContentLength());
     }
 
-    public static void putLength(int length, byte[] bytes, int offset) {
-        bytes[offset] = (byte) ((length >>> 8) & 0xFF);
-        bytes[offset + 1] = (byte) ((length >>> 0) & 0xFF);
+    public static ByteArrayPointable generatePointableFromPureBytes(byte[] bytes) {
+        return generatePointableFromPureBytes(bytes, 0, bytes.length);
+    }
+
+    public static ByteArrayPointable generatePointableFromPureBytes(byte[] bytes, int start, int length) {
+        int metaLen = getNumberBytesToStoreMeta(length);
+        byte[] ret = new byte[length + metaLen];
+        VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.encode(length, ret, 0);
+        for (int i = 0; i < length; ++i) {
+            ret[i + metaLen] = bytes[start + i];
+        }
+        ByteArrayPointable ptr = new ByteArrayPointable();
+        ptr.set(ret, 0, ret.length);
+        return ptr;
+    }
+
+    public static int getContentLength(byte[] bytes, int offset) {
+        return VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.decode(bytes, offset);
+    }
+
+    public static int getNumberBytesToStoreMeta(int length) {
+        return VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.getBytesRequired(length);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Compute the normalized key of the byte array.
+     * The normalized key in Hyracks is mainly used to speedup the comparison between pointable data.
+     * In the ByteArray case, we compute the integer value by using the first 4 bytes.
+     * The comparator will first use this integer to get the result ( <,>, or =), it will check
+     * the actual bytes only if the normalized key is equal. Thus this normalized key must be
+     * consistent with the comparison result.
+     *
+     * @param bytesPtr
+     * @param start
+     * @return
+     */
+    public static int normalize(byte[] bytesPtr, int start) {
+        int len = getContentLength(bytesPtr, start);
+        long nk = 0;
+        start = start + getNumberBytesToStoreMeta(len);
+        for (int i = 0; i < 4; ++i) {
+            nk <<= 8;
+            if (i < len) {
+                nk |= bytesPtr[start + i] & 0xff;
+            }
+        }
+        return (int) (nk >> 1); // make it always positive.
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/RawUTF8StringPointable.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/RawUTF8StringPointable.java
index 2b1f557..70bac4d 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/RawUTF8StringPointable.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/RawUTF8StringPointable.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IHashable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointableFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
 
 /**
  * This class provides the raw bytes-based comparison and hash function for UTF8 strings.
@@ -66,44 +67,16 @@
 
     @Override
     public int compareTo(byte[] bytes, int start, int length) {
-        int utflen1 = UTF8StringPointable.getUTFLength(this.bytes, this.start);
-        int utflen2 = UTF8StringPointable.getUTFLength(bytes, start);
-
-        int c1 = 0;
-        int c2 = 0;
-
-        int s1Start = this.start + 2;
-        int s2Start = start + 2;
-
-        while (c1 < utflen1 && c2 < utflen2) {
-            char ch1 = (char) this.bytes[s1Start + c1];
-            char ch2 = (char) bytes[s2Start + c2];
-
-            if (ch1 != ch2) {
-                return ch1 - ch2;
-            }
-            c1++;
-            c2++;
-        }
-        return utflen1 - utflen2;
+        return UTF8StringUtil.rawByteCompareTo(this.bytes, this.start, bytes, start);
     }
 
     @Override
     public int hash() {
-        int h = 0;
-        int utflen = UTF8StringPointable.getUTFLength(bytes, start);
-        int sStart = start + 2;
-        int c = 0;
-
-        while (c < utflen) {
-            char ch = (char) bytes[sStart + c];
-            h = 31 * h + ch;
-            c++;
-        }
-        return h;
+        return UTF8StringUtil.rawBytehash(this.bytes, this.start);
     }
 
     public void toString(StringBuilder buffer) {
-        UTF8StringPointable.toString(buffer, bytes, start);
+        UTF8StringUtil.toString(buffer, bytes, start);
     }
+
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/UTF8StringLowercasePointable.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/UTF8StringLowercasePointable.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6e4810c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/UTF8StringLowercasePointable.java
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive;
+
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.AbstractPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IComparable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IHashable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointableFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
+
+public final class UTF8StringLowercasePointable extends AbstractPointable implements IHashable, IComparable {
+    public static final ITypeTraits TYPE_TRAITS = new ITypeTraits() {
+        private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+        @Override
+        public boolean isFixedLength() {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public int getFixedLength() {
+            return 0;
+        }
+    };
+
+    public static final IPointableFactory FACTORY = new IPointableFactory() {
+        private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+        @Override
+        public IPointable createPointable() {
+            return new UTF8StringLowercasePointable();
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public ITypeTraits getTypeTraits() {
+            return TYPE_TRAITS;
+        }
+    };
+
+    @Override
+    public int compareTo(IPointable pointer) {
+        return compareTo(pointer.getByteArray(), pointer.getStartOffset(), pointer.getLength());
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int compareTo(byte[] bytes, int start, int length) {
+        return UTF8StringUtil.lowerCaseCompareTo(this.bytes, this.start, bytes, start);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int hash() {
+        return UTF8StringUtil.lowerCaseHash(bytes, start);
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/UTF8StringPointable.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/UTF8StringPointable.java
index 8b41206..e311fa6 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/UTF8StringPointable.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/UTF8StringPointable.java
@@ -18,14 +18,42 @@
  */
 package org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
+
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.AbstractPointable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IComparable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IHashable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointableFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.GrowableArray;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.UTF8StringBuilder;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
 
 public final class UTF8StringPointable extends AbstractPointable implements IHashable, IComparable {
+
+    // These values are cached to speed up the length data access.
+    // Since we are using the variable-length encoding, we can save the repeated decoding efforts.
+    // WARNING: must call the resetConstants() method after each reset().
+    private int utf8Length;
+    private int metaLength;
+    private int hashValue;
+    private int stringLength;
+
+    /**
+     * reset those meta length.
+     * Since the {@code utf8Length} and the {@code metaLength} are often used, we compute those two values in advance.
+     * As for the {@code stringLength} and the {@code hashValue}, they will be lazily initialized after the first call.
+     */
+    @Override
+    protected void afterReset() {
+        utf8Length = UTF8StringUtil.getUTFLength(bytes, start);
+        metaLength = UTF8StringUtil.getNumBytesToStoreLength(getUTF8Length());
+        hashValue = 0;
+        stringLength = -1;
+    }
+
     public static final ITypeTraits TYPE_TRAITS = new ITypeTraits() {
         private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 
@@ -54,111 +82,57 @@
         }
     };
 
+    public static UTF8StringPointable generateUTF8Pointable(String string) {
+        byte[] bytes;
+        bytes = UTF8StringUtil.writeStringToBytes(string);
+        UTF8StringPointable ptr = new UTF8StringPointable();
+        ptr.set(bytes, 0, bytes.length);
+        return ptr;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Returns the character at the given byte offset. The caller is responsible for making sure that
      * the provided offset is within bounds and points to the beginning of a valid UTF8 character.
-     * 
-     * @param offset
-     *            - Byte offset
+     *
+     * @param offset - Byte offset
      * @return Character at the given offset.
      */
     public char charAt(int offset) {
-        return charAt(bytes, start + offset);
-    }
-
-    public static char charAt(byte[] b, int s) {
-        int c = b[s] & 0xff;
-        switch (c >> 4) {
-            case 0:
-            case 1:
-            case 2:
-            case 3:
-            case 4:
-            case 5:
-            case 6:
-            case 7:
-                return (char) c;
-
-            case 12:
-            case 13:
-                return (char) (((c & 0x1F) << 6) | ((b[s + 1]) & 0x3F));
-
-            case 14:
-                return (char) (((c & 0x0F) << 12) | (((b[s + 1]) & 0x3F) << 6) | (((b[s + 2]) & 0x3F) << 0));
-
-            default:
-                throw new IllegalArgumentException();
-        }
+        return UTF8StringUtil.charAt(bytes, start + offset);
     }
 
     public int charSize(int offset) {
-        return charSize(bytes, start + offset);
-    }
-
-    public static int charSize(byte[] b, int s) {
-        int c = b[s] & 0xff;
-        switch (c >> 4) {
-            case 0:
-            case 1:
-            case 2:
-            case 3:
-            case 4:
-            case 5:
-            case 6:
-            case 7:
-                return 1;
-
-            case 12:
-            case 13:
-                return 2;
-
-            case 14:
-                return 3;
-        }
-        throw new IllegalStateException();
-    }
-
-    public static int getModifiedUTF8Len(char c) {
-        if (c >= 0x0000 && c <= 0x007F) {
-            return 1;
-        } else if (c <= 0x07FF) {
-            return 2;
-        } else {
-            return 3;
-        }
+        return UTF8StringUtil.charSize(bytes, start + offset);
     }
 
     /**
      * Gets the length of the string in characters.
-     * 
+     * The first time call will need to go through the entire string, the following call will just return the pre-caculated result
+     *
      * @return length of string in characters
      */
     public int getStringLength() {
-        return getStringLength(bytes, start);
-    }
-
-    public static int getStringLength(byte[] b, int s) {
-        int pos = s + 2;
-        int end = pos + getUTFLength(b, s);
-        int charCount = 0;
-        while (pos < end) {
-            charCount++;
-            pos += charSize(b, pos);
+        if (stringLength < 0) {
+            stringLength = UTF8StringUtil.getStringLength(bytes, start);
         }
-        return charCount;
+        return stringLength;
     }
 
     /**
      * Gets the length of the UTF-8 encoded string in bytes.
-     * 
+     *
      * @return length of UTF-8 encoded string in bytes
      */
-    public int getUTFLength() {
-        return getUTFLength(bytes, start);
+    public int getUTF8Length() {
+        return utf8Length;
     }
 
-    public static int getUTFLength(byte[] b, int s) {
-        return ((b[s] & 0xff) << 8) + ((b[s + 1] & 0xff) << 0);
+    public int getMetaDataLength() {
+        return metaLength;
+    }
+
+    public int getCharStartOffset() {
+        return getStartOffset() + getMetaDataLength();
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -168,56 +142,307 @@
 
     @Override
     public int compareTo(byte[] bytes, int start, int length) {
-        int utflen1 = getUTFLength(this.bytes, this.start);
-        int utflen2 = getUTFLength(bytes, start);
-
-        int c1 = 0;
-        int c2 = 0;
-
-        int s1Start = this.start + 2;
-        int s2Start = start + 2;
-
-        while (c1 < utflen1 && c2 < utflen2) {
-            char ch1 = charAt(this.bytes, s1Start + c1);
-            char ch2 = charAt(bytes, s2Start + c2);
-
-            if (ch1 != ch2) {
-                return ch1 - ch2;
-            }
-            c1 += charSize(this.bytes, s1Start + c1);
-            c2 += charSize(bytes, s2Start + c2);
-        }
-        return utflen1 - utflen2;
+        return UTF8StringUtil.compareTo(this.bytes, this.start, bytes, start);
     }
 
     @Override
     public int hash() {
-        int h = 0;
-        int utflen = getUTFLength(bytes, start);
-        int sStart = start + 2;
-        int c = 0;
-
-        while (c < utflen) {
-            char ch = charAt(bytes, sStart + c);
-            h = 31 * h + ch;
-            c += charSize(bytes, sStart + c);
+        if (hashValue == 0) {
+            hashValue = UTF8StringUtil.hash(this.bytes, this.start);
         }
-        return h;
-    }
-
-    public static void toString(StringBuilder buffer, byte[] bytes, int start) {
-        int utfLen = getUTFLength(bytes, start);
-        int offset = 2;
-        while (utfLen > 0) {
-            char c = charAt(bytes, start + offset);
-            buffer.append(c);
-            int cLen = UTF8StringPointable.getModifiedUTF8Len(c);
-            offset += cLen;
-            utfLen -= cLen;
-        }
+        return hashValue;
     }
 
     public void toString(StringBuilder buffer) {
-        toString(buffer, bytes, start);
+        UTF8StringUtil.toString(buffer, bytes, start);
     }
+
+    public String toString() {
+        return new String(this.bytes, this.getCharStartOffset(), this.getUTF8Length(), Charset.forName("UTF-8"));
+    }
+
+    /****
+     * String functions
+     */
+
+    public int ignoreCaseCompareTo(UTF8StringPointable other) {
+        return UTF8StringUtil.lowerCaseCompareTo(this.getByteArray(), this.getStartOffset(),
+                other.getByteArray(), other.getStartOffset());
+    }
+
+    public int find(UTF8StringPointable pattern, boolean ignoreCase) {
+        return find(this, pattern, ignoreCase);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * return the byte offset of the first character of the matching string. Not including the MetaLength
+     *
+     * @param src
+     * @param pattern
+     * @param ignoreCase
+     * @return
+     */
+    public static int find(UTF8StringPointable src, UTF8StringPointable pattern, boolean ignoreCase) {
+        final int srcUtfLen = src.getUTF8Length();
+        final int pttnUtfLen = pattern.getUTF8Length();
+        final int srcStart = src.getMetaDataLength();
+        final int pttnStart = pattern.getMetaDataLength();
+
+        int startMatch = 0;
+        int maxStart = srcUtfLen - pttnUtfLen;
+        while (startMatch <= maxStart) {
+            int c1 = startMatch;
+            int c2 = 0;
+            while (c1 < srcUtfLen && c2 < pttnUtfLen) {
+                char ch1 = src.charAt(srcStart + c1);
+                char ch2 = pattern.charAt(pttnStart + c2);
+
+                if (ch1 != ch2) {
+                    if (!ignoreCase || ignoreCase && Character.toLowerCase(ch1) != Character.toLowerCase(ch2)) {
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+                c1 += src.charSize(srcStart + c1);
+                c2 += pattern.charSize(pttnStart + c2);
+            }
+            if (c2 == pttnUtfLen) {
+                return startMatch;
+            }
+            startMatch += src.charSize(srcStart + startMatch);
+        }
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    public boolean contains(UTF8StringPointable pattern, boolean ignoreCase) {
+        return contains(this, pattern, ignoreCase);
+    }
+
+    public static boolean contains(UTF8StringPointable src, UTF8StringPointable pattern, boolean ignoreCase) {
+        return find(src, pattern, ignoreCase) >= 0;
+    }
+
+    public boolean startsWith(UTF8StringPointable pattern, boolean ignoreCase) {
+        return startsWith(this, pattern, ignoreCase);
+    }
+
+    public static boolean startsWith(UTF8StringPointable src, UTF8StringPointable pattern, boolean ignoreCase) {
+        int utflen1 = src.getUTF8Length();
+        int utflen2 = pattern.getUTF8Length();
+        if (utflen2 > utflen1)
+            return false;
+
+        int s1Start = src.getMetaDataLength();
+        int s2Start = pattern.getMetaDataLength();
+
+        int c1 = 0;
+        int c2 = 0;
+        while (c1 < utflen1 && c2 < utflen2) {
+            char ch1 = src.charAt(s1Start + c1);
+            char ch2 = pattern.charAt(s2Start + c2);
+            if (ch1 != ch2) {
+                if (!ignoreCase || ignoreCase && Character.toLowerCase(ch1) != Character.toLowerCase(ch2)) {
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+            c1 += src.charSize(s1Start + c1);
+            c2 += pattern.charSize(s2Start + c2);
+        }
+        return (c2 == utflen2);
+    }
+
+    public boolean endsWith(UTF8StringPointable pattern, boolean ignoreCase) {
+        return endsWith(this, pattern, ignoreCase);
+    }
+
+    public static boolean endsWith(UTF8StringPointable src, UTF8StringPointable pattern, boolean ignoreCase) {
+        int len1 = src.getUTF8Length();
+        int len2 = pattern.getUTF8Length();
+        if (len2 > len1)
+            return false;
+
+        int s1Start = src.getMetaDataLength();
+        int s2Start = pattern.getMetaDataLength();
+
+        int c1 = len1 - len2;
+        int c2 = 0;
+        while (c1 < len1 && c2 < len2) {
+            char ch1 = src.charAt(s1Start + c1);
+            char ch2 = pattern.charAt(s2Start + c2);
+
+            if (ch1 != ch2) {
+                if (!ignoreCase || ignoreCase && Character.toLowerCase(ch1) != Character.toLowerCase(ch2)) {
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+            c1 += src.charSize(s1Start + c1);
+            c2 += pattern.charSize(s2Start + c2);
+        }
+        return (c2 == len2);
+    }
+
+    public void concat(UTF8StringPointable next, UTF8StringBuilder builder, GrowableArray out) throws IOException {
+        concat(this, next, builder, out);
+    }
+
+    public static void concat(UTF8StringPointable first, UTF8StringPointable next, UTF8StringBuilder builder,
+            GrowableArray out) throws IOException {
+        int firstUtfLen = first.getUTF8Length();
+        int nextUtfLen = next.getUTF8Length();
+
+        builder.reset(out, firstUtfLen + nextUtfLen);
+        builder.appendUtf8StringPointable(first);
+        builder.appendUtf8StringPointable(next);
+        builder.finish();
+    }
+
+    public void substr(int charOffset, int charLength, UTF8StringBuilder builder, GrowableArray out)
+            throws IOException {
+        substr(this, charOffset, charLength, builder, out);
+    }
+
+    public static void substr(UTF8StringPointable src, int charOffset, int charLength, UTF8StringBuilder builder,
+            GrowableArray out) throws IOException {
+        // Really don't understand why we need to support the charOffset < 0 case.
+        // At this time, usually there is mistake on user side, we'd better give him a warning.
+        // assert charOffset >= 0;
+        if (charOffset < 0) {
+            charOffset = 0;
+        }
+        if (charLength < 0) {
+            charLength = 0;
+        }
+
+        int utfLen = src.getUTF8Length();
+        int chIdx = 0;
+        int byteIdx = 0;
+        while (byteIdx < utfLen && chIdx < charOffset) {
+            byteIdx += src.charSize(src.getMetaDataLength() + byteIdx);
+            chIdx++;
+        }
+        if (byteIdx >= utfLen) {
+            // Again, why do we tolerant this kind of mistakes?
+            // throw new StringIndexOutOfBoundsException(charOffset);
+            builder.reset(out, 0);
+            builder.finish();
+            return;
+        }
+
+        builder.reset(out, Math.min(utfLen - byteIdx, (int) (charLength * 1.0 * byteIdx / chIdx)));
+        chIdx = 0;
+        while (byteIdx < utfLen && chIdx < charLength) {
+            builder.appendChar(src.charAt(src.getMetaDataLength() + byteIdx));
+            chIdx++;
+            byteIdx += src.charSize(src.getMetaDataLength() + byteIdx);
+        }
+        builder.finish();
+    }
+
+    public void substrBefore(UTF8StringPointable match, UTF8StringBuilder builder, GrowableArray out)
+            throws IOException {
+        substrBefore(this, match, builder, out);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Write the substring before the given pattern. It will write a empty string if the matching fails.
+     *
+     * @param src
+     * @param match
+     * @param builder
+     * @param out
+     * @throws IOException
+     */
+    public static void substrBefore(
+            UTF8StringPointable src,
+            UTF8StringPointable match,
+            UTF8StringBuilder builder,
+            GrowableArray out) throws IOException {
+
+        int byteOffset = find(src, match, false);
+        if (byteOffset < 0) {
+            builder.reset(out, 0);
+            builder.finish();
+            return;
+        }
+
+        final int srcMetaLen = src.getMetaDataLength();
+
+        builder.reset(out, byteOffset);
+        for (int idx = 0; idx < byteOffset; ) {
+            builder.appendChar(src.charAt(srcMetaLen + idx));
+            idx += src.charSize(srcMetaLen + idx);
+        }
+        builder.finish();
+    }
+
+    public void substrAfter(UTF8StringPointable match, UTF8StringBuilder builder, GrowableArray out)
+            throws IOException {
+        substrAfter(this, match, builder, out);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Write the substring after the given pattern. It will write a empty string if the matching fails.
+     *
+     * @param src
+     * @param match
+     * @param builder
+     * @param out
+     */
+    public static void substrAfter(
+            UTF8StringPointable src,
+            UTF8StringPointable match,
+            UTF8StringBuilder builder,
+            GrowableArray out) throws IOException {
+
+        int byteOffset = find(src, match, false);
+        if (byteOffset < 0) {
+            builder.reset(out, 0);
+            builder.finish();
+            return;
+        }
+
+        final int srcUtfLen = src.getUTF8Length();
+        final int matchUtfLen = match.getUTF8Length();
+
+        final int resultLen = srcUtfLen - byteOffset - matchUtfLen;
+        builder.reset(out, resultLen);
+        builder.appendUtf8StringPointable(src, src.getCharStartOffset() + byteOffset + matchUtfLen, resultLen);
+        builder.finish();
+    }
+
+    public void lowercase(UTF8StringBuilder builder, GrowableArray out) throws IOException {
+        lowercase(this, builder, out);
+    }
+
+    public static void lowercase(UTF8StringPointable src, UTF8StringBuilder builder, GrowableArray out)
+            throws IOException {
+        final int srcUtfLen = src.getUTF8Length();
+        final int srcStart = src.getMetaDataLength();
+
+        builder.reset(out, srcUtfLen);
+        int byteIndex = 0;
+        while (byteIndex < srcUtfLen) {
+            builder.appendChar(Character.toLowerCase(src.charAt(srcStart + byteIndex)));
+            byteIndex += src.charSize(srcStart + byteIndex);
+        }
+        builder.finish();
+    }
+
+    public void uppercase(UTF8StringBuilder builder, GrowableArray out) throws IOException {
+        uppercase(this, builder, out);
+    }
+
+    public static void uppercase(UTF8StringPointable src, UTF8StringBuilder builder, GrowableArray out)
+            throws IOException {
+        final int srcUtfLen = src.getUTF8Length();
+        final int srcStart = src.getMetaDataLength();
+
+        builder.reset(out, srcUtfLen);
+        int byteIndex = 0;
+        while (byteIndex < srcUtfLen) {
+            builder.appendChar(Character.toUpperCase(src.charAt(srcStart + byteIndex)));
+            byteIndex += src.charSize(srcStart + byteIndex);
+        }
+        builder.finish();
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/UTF8StringWriter.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/UTF8StringWriter.java
deleted file mode 100644
index ae7e903..0000000
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/UTF8StringWriter.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,79 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
- * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
- * distributed with this work for additional information
- * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
- * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
- * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
- * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
- * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
- * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
- * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
- * specific language governing permissions and limitations
- * under the License.
- */
-package org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive;
-
-import java.io.DataOutput;
-import java.io.IOException;
-import java.io.UTFDataFormatException;
-
-public class UTF8StringWriter {
-    private byte[] tempBytes;
-
-    public void writeUTF8String(CharSequence str, DataOutput out) throws IOException {
-        int strlen = str.length();
-        int utflen = 0;
-        int c, count = 0;
-
-        for (int i = 0; i < strlen; i++) {
-            c = str.charAt(i);
-            if ((c >= 0x0001) && (c <= 0x007F)) {
-                utflen++;
-            } else if (c > 0x07FF) {
-                utflen += 3;
-            } else {
-                utflen += 2;
-            }
-        }
-
-        if (utflen > 65535) {
-            throw new UTFDataFormatException("encoded string too long: " + utflen + " bytes");
-        }
-
-        if (tempBytes == null || tempBytes.length < utflen + 2) {
-            tempBytes = new byte[utflen + 2];
-        }
-
-        tempBytes[count++] = (byte) ((utflen >>> 8) & 0xFF);
-        tempBytes[count++] = (byte) ((utflen >>> 0) & 0xFF);
-
-        int i = 0;
-        for (i = 0; i < strlen; i++) {
-            c = str.charAt(i);
-            if (!((c >= 0x0001) && (c <= 0x007F))) {
-                break;
-            }
-            tempBytes[count++] = (byte) c;
-        }
-
-        for (; i < strlen; i++) {
-            c = str.charAt(i);
-            if ((c >= 0x0001) && (c <= 0x007F)) {
-                tempBytes[count++] = (byte) c;
-            } else if (c > 0x07FF) {
-                tempBytes[count++] = (byte) (0xE0 | ((c >> 12) & 0x0F));
-                tempBytes[count++] = (byte) (0x80 | ((c >> 6) & 0x3F));
-                tempBytes[count++] = (byte) (0x80 | ((c >> 0) & 0x3F));
-            } else {
-                tempBytes[count++] = (byte) (0xC0 | ((c >> 6) & 0x1F));
-                tempBytes[count++] = (byte) (0x80 | ((c >> 0) & 0x3F));
-            }
-        }
-        out.write(tempBytes, 0, utflen + 2);
-    }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/AbstractVarLenObjectBuilder.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/AbstractVarLenObjectBuilder.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..452710e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/AbstractVarLenObjectBuilder.java
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util;
+
+import java.io.DataOutput;
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder;
+
+/**
+ * This builder is used to build the variable length encoding object (e.g. UTF8String or ByteArray).
+ * The caller needs to give an estimated length when {@link #reset(GrowableArray, int)}.
+ * Then it can append the content byte by byte.
+ * Since the actual byte length to store the content length is not precise at the beginning, the caller need
+ * to explicitly call the {@link #finish()} function to notify that one object has finished building.
+ * Then internally this builder will take care of storing the actual length field at the beginning of the
+ * given storage array.
+ */
+public abstract class AbstractVarLenObjectBuilder {
+    protected GrowableArray ary;
+    protected DataOutput out;
+    protected int startOffset;
+    protected int estimateMetaLen;
+
+    /**
+     * Start to build an variable length object
+     *
+     * @param ary            the destination storage array
+     * @param estimateLength the estimate length of this object
+     * @throws IOException
+     */
+    public void reset(GrowableArray ary, int estimateLength) throws IOException {
+        this.ary = ary;
+        this.out = ary.getDataOutput();
+        this.startOffset = ary.getLength();
+        this.estimateMetaLen = VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.getBytesRequired(estimateLength);
+
+        // increase the offset
+        for (int i = 0; i < estimateMetaLen; i++) {
+            out.writeByte(0);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Finish building an variable length object.
+     * It will write the correct length of the object at the beginning of the storage array.
+     * Since the actual byte size for storing the length could be changed ( if the given estimated length varies too
+     * far from the actual length), we need to shift the data around in some cases.
+     * Specifically, if the varlength(actual length) > varlength(estimated length) we need to grow the storage and
+     * shift the content rightward. Else we need to shift the data leftward and tell the storage to rewind the
+     * difference to mark the correct position.
+     *
+     * @throws IOException
+     */
+    public void finish() throws IOException {
+        int actualDataLength = ary.getLength() - startOffset - estimateMetaLen;
+        int actualMetaLen = VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.getBytesRequired(actualDataLength);
+        if (actualMetaLen != estimateMetaLen) {// ugly but rare situation if the estimate vary a lot
+            int diff = estimateMetaLen - actualMetaLen;
+            int actualDataStart = startOffset + actualMetaLen;
+            if (diff > 0) { // shrink
+                for (int i = 0; i < actualDataLength; i++) {
+                    ary.getByteArray()[actualDataStart + i] = ary.getByteArray()[actualDataStart + i + diff];
+                }
+                ary.rewindPositionBy(diff);
+            } else { // increase space
+                diff = -diff;
+                for (int i = 0; i < diff; i++) {
+                    out.writeByte(0);
+                }
+                for (int i = ary.getLength() - 1; i >= actualDataStart + diff; i--) {
+                    ary.getByteArray()[i] = ary.getByteArray()[i - diff];
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.encode(actualDataLength, ary.getByteArray(), startOffset);
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/ByteArrayAccessibleOutputStream.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/ByteArrayAccessibleOutputStream.java
index 2f1ad1d..287e2f2 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/ByteArrayAccessibleOutputStream.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/ByteArrayAccessibleOutputStream.java
@@ -41,6 +41,26 @@
         count += 1;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Rewind the current position by {@code delta} to a previous position.
+     * This function is used to drop the already written delta bytes.
+     * In some cases, we write some bytes, and afterward we found we've written more than expected.
+     * Then we need to fix the position by rewind the current position to the expected one.
+     *
+     * Currently, it is used by the {@link AbstractVarLenObjectBuilder} which may take more space than required
+     * at beginning, and it will shift the data and fix the position whenever required.
+     *
+     * It will throw {@link IndexOutOfBoundsException} if the {@code delta} is negative.
+     * Evil function, use with caution.
+     * @param delta
+     */
+    public void rewindPositionBy(int delta) {
+        if (delta < 0 || count < delta) {
+            throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException();
+        }
+        count -= delta;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public void write(byte[] b, int off, int len) {
         if ((off < 0) || (off > b.length) || (len < 0) || ((off + len) - b.length > 0)) {
@@ -60,9 +80,8 @@
     /**
      * Increases the capacity to ensure that it can hold at least the
      * number of elements specified by the minimum capacity argument.
-     * 
-     * @param minCapacity
-     *            the desired minimum capacity
+     *
+     * @param minCapacity the desired minimum capacity
      */
     private void grow(int minCapacity) {
         // overflow-conscious code
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/ByteArrayBuilder.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/ByteArrayBuilder.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..61b15d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/ByteArrayBuilder.java
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+public class ByteArrayBuilder extends AbstractVarLenObjectBuilder {
+
+    public void appendByte(byte b) throws IOException {
+        out.writeByte(b);
+    }
+
+    public void appendBytes(byte[] bytes, int start, int length) throws IOException {
+        out.write(bytes, start, length);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/GrowableArray.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/GrowableArray.java
index d08412e..6e329ab 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/GrowableArray.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/GrowableArray.java
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
 package org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util;
 
 import java.io.DataOutput;
-import java.io.DataOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IDataOutputProvider;
@@ -28,7 +27,7 @@
 
 public class GrowableArray implements IDataOutputProvider {
     private final ByteArrayAccessibleOutputStream baaos = new ByteArrayAccessibleOutputStream();
-    private final DataOutputStream dos = new DataOutputStream(baaos);
+    private final RewindableDataOutputStream dos = new RewindableDataOutputStream(baaos);
 
     @Override
     public DataOutput getDataOutput() {
@@ -39,6 +38,24 @@
         baaos.reset();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Rewind the current position by {@code delta} to a previous position.
+     * This function is used to drop the already written delta bytes.
+     * In some cases, we write some bytes, and afterward we found we've written more than expected.
+     * Then we need to fix the position by rewind the current position to the expected one.
+     *
+     * Currently, it is used by the {@link AbstractVarLenObjectBuilder} which may take more space than required
+     * at beginning, and it will shift the data and fix the position whenever required.
+     * It will throw {@link IndexOutOfBoundsException} if the {@code delta} is negative.
+     * Evil function, use with caution.
+     *
+     * @param delta
+     */
+    public void rewindPositionBy(int delta) {
+        baaos.rewindPositionBy(delta);
+        dos.rewindWrittenBy(delta);
+    }
+
     public byte[] getByteArray() {
         return baaos.getByteArray();
     }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/ICharIterator.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/ICharIterator.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..118893b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/ICharIterator.java
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util;
+
+public interface ICharIterator {
+
+    boolean hasNext();
+
+    char next();
+}
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/RewindableDataOutputStream.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/RewindableDataOutputStream.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dcd5458
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/RewindableDataOutputStream.java
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util;
+
+import java.io.DataOutputStream;
+import java.io.FilterOutputStream;
+import java.io.OutputStream;
+
+public class RewindableDataOutputStream extends DataOutputStream {
+    /**
+     * Creates a new data output stream to write data to the specified
+     * underlying output stream. The counter <code>written</code> is
+     * set to zero.
+     *
+     * @param out the underlying output stream, to be saved for later
+     *            use.
+     * @see FilterOutputStream#out
+     */
+    public RewindableDataOutputStream(OutputStream out) {
+        super(out);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Rewind the current position by {@code delta} to a previous position.
+     * This function is used to drop the already written delta bytes.
+     * In some cases, we write some bytes, and afterward we found we've written more than expected.
+     * Then we need to fix the position by rewind the current position to the expected one.
+     * Currently, it is used by the {@link AbstractVarLenObjectBuilder} which may take more space than required
+     * at beginning, and it will shift the data and fix the position whenever required.
+     *
+     * @param delta
+     */
+    public void rewindWrittenBy(int delta) {
+        if (written < delta) {
+            throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException();
+        }
+        written -= delta;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/UTF8CharSequence.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/UTF8CharSequence.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9dafef1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/UTF8CharSequence.java
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util;
+
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
+
+public class UTF8CharSequence implements CharSequence {
+
+    private char[] buf;
+    private int length;
+
+    @Override
+    public char charAt(int index) {
+        if (index >= length || index < 0) {
+            throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException("No index " + index + " for string of length " + length);
+        }
+        return buf[index];
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int length() {
+        return length;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public CharSequence subSequence(int start, int end) {
+        UTF8CharSequence carSeq = new UTF8CharSequence();
+        carSeq.length = end - start;
+        if (end != start) {
+            carSeq.buf = new char[carSeq.length];
+            System.arraycopy(buf, start, carSeq.buf, 0, carSeq.length);
+        }
+        return carSeq;
+    }
+
+    public void reset(UTF8StringPointable valuePtr) {
+        int utfLen = valuePtr.getUTF8Length();
+        if (buf == null || buf.length < utfLen) {
+            buf = new char[utfLen];
+        }
+        int bytePos = 0;
+        int charPos = 0;
+        while (bytePos < utfLen) {
+            buf[charPos++] = valuePtr.charAt(valuePtr.getMetaDataLength() + bytePos);
+            bytePos += valuePtr.charSize(valuePtr.getMetaDataLength() + bytePos);
+        }
+        this.length = charPos;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+        return new String(buf, 0, length);
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/UTF8StringBuilder.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/UTF8StringBuilder.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eb29a98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/UTF8StringBuilder.java
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
+
+public class UTF8StringBuilder extends AbstractVarLenObjectBuilder {
+
+    public void appendChar(char ch) throws IOException {
+        UTF8StringUtil.writeCharAsModifiedUTF8(ch, out);
+    }
+
+    public void appendString(String string) throws IOException {
+        for (int i = 0; i < string.length(); i++) {
+            appendChar(string.charAt(i));
+        }
+    }
+
+    public void appendUtf8StringPointable(UTF8StringPointable src, int byteStartOffset, int byteLength) throws IOException {
+        out.write(src.getByteArray(), byteStartOffset, byteLength);
+    }
+
+    public void appendUtf8StringPointable(UTF8StringPointable src) throws IOException {
+        appendUtf8StringPointable(src, src.getCharStartOffset(), src.getUTF8Length());
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/UTF8StringCharacterIterator.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/UTF8StringCharacterIterator.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..317527e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/UTF8StringCharacterIterator.java
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util;
+
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
+
+public class UTF8StringCharacterIterator implements ICharIterator {
+
+    private UTF8StringPointable utf8Ptr;
+    private int pos;
+
+    public UTF8StringCharacterIterator reset(UTF8StringPointable utf8Ptr) {
+        this.utf8Ptr = utf8Ptr;
+        return reset();
+    }
+
+    public UTF8StringCharacterIterator reset() {
+        this.pos = utf8Ptr.getMetaDataLength();
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean hasNext() {
+        return pos < utf8Ptr.getMetaDataLength() + utf8Ptr.getUTF8Length();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public char next() {
+        char ret = utf8Ptr.charAt(pos);
+        pos += utf8Ptr.charSize(pos);
+        return ret;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/ByteArrayPointableTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/ByteArrayPointableTest.java
index f58c8da..1713467 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/ByteArrayPointableTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/ByteArrayPointableTest.java
@@ -19,51 +19,39 @@
 
 package org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive;
 
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+
 import org.junit.Test;
 
-import javax.xml.bind.DatatypeConverter;
-
-import static org.junit.Assert.*;
-
 public class ByteArrayPointableTest {
 
-    public static byte[] generatePointableBytes(byte[] bytes){
-        byte[] ret = new byte[bytes.length + ByteArrayPointable.SIZE_OF_LENGTH];
-        for (int i = 0; i < bytes.length; ++i){
-            ret[i+ ByteArrayPointable.SIZE_OF_LENGTH] = bytes[i];
-        }
-        ByteArrayPointable.putLength(bytes.length, ret, 0);
-        return ret;
-    }
-
     @Test
     public void testCompareTo() throws Exception {
-        byte [] bytes = generatePointableBytes(new byte[] { 1, 2, 3, 4});
-        ByteArrayPointable byteArrayPointable = new ByteArrayPointable();
-        byteArrayPointable.set(bytes, 0, bytes.length);
+        ByteArrayPointable byteArrayPointable = ByteArrayPointable
+                .generatePointableFromPureBytes(new byte[] { 1, 2, 3, 4 });
 
-        testEqual(byteArrayPointable, generatePointableBytes(new byte[] { 1,2 ,3,4}));
+        testEqual(byteArrayPointable, ByteArrayPointable.generatePointableFromPureBytes(new byte[] { 1, 2, 3, 4 }));
 
-        testLessThan(byteArrayPointable, generatePointableBytes(new byte[] {2}));
-        testLessThan(byteArrayPointable, generatePointableBytes(new byte[] {1,2,3,5}));
-        testLessThan(byteArrayPointable, generatePointableBytes(new byte[] {1,2,3,4,5}));
+        testLessThan(byteArrayPointable, ByteArrayPointable.generatePointableFromPureBytes(new byte[] { 2 }, 0, 1));
+        testLessThan(byteArrayPointable, ByteArrayPointable.generatePointableFromPureBytes(new byte[] { 1, 2, 3, 5 }));
+        testLessThan(byteArrayPointable,
+                ByteArrayPointable.generatePointableFromPureBytes(new byte[] { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }));
 
-        testGreaterThan(byteArrayPointable, generatePointableBytes(new byte[] { }));
-        testGreaterThan(byteArrayPointable, generatePointableBytes(new byte[] { 0}));
-        testGreaterThan(byteArrayPointable, generatePointableBytes(new byte[] { 1,2,3}));
+        testGreaterThan(byteArrayPointable, ByteArrayPointable.generatePointableFromPureBytes(new byte[] {}));
+        testGreaterThan(byteArrayPointable, ByteArrayPointable.generatePointableFromPureBytes(new byte[] { 0 }));
+        testGreaterThan(byteArrayPointable, ByteArrayPointable.generatePointableFromPureBytes(new byte[] { 1, 2, 3 }));
 
     }
 
-
-    void testEqual(ByteArrayPointable pointable, byte [] bytes){
-        assertTrue(pointable.compareTo(bytes, 0, bytes.length) == 0);
+    void testEqual(ByteArrayPointable pointable, ByteArrayPointable bytes) {
+        assertTrue(pointable.compareTo(bytes) == 0);
     }
 
-    void testLessThan(ByteArrayPointable pointable, byte[] bytes){
-        assertTrue(pointable.compareTo(bytes, 0, bytes.length) < 0);
+    void testLessThan(ByteArrayPointable pointable, ByteArrayPointable bytes) {
+        assertTrue(pointable.compareTo(bytes) < 0);
     }
 
-    void testGreaterThan(ByteArrayPointable pointable, byte[] bytes){
-        assertTrue(pointable.compareTo(bytes, 0, bytes.length) > 0);
+    void testGreaterThan(ByteArrayPointable pointable, ByteArrayPointable bytes) {
+        assertTrue(pointable.compareTo(bytes) > 0);
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/UTF8StringPointableTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/UTF8StringPointableTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f134718
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/primitive/UTF8StringPointableTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,193 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.GrowableArray;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.UTF8StringBuilder;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class UTF8StringPointableTest {
+    public static UTF8StringPointable STRING_EMPTY = UTF8StringPointable
+            .generateUTF8Pointable(UTF8StringSample.EMPTY_STRING);
+    public static UTF8StringPointable STRING_UTF8_MIX = UTF8StringPointable
+            .generateUTF8Pointable(UTF8StringSample.STRING_UTF8_MIX);
+    public static UTF8StringPointable STRING_UTF8_MIX_LOWERCASE = UTF8StringPointable.generateUTF8Pointable(
+            UTF8StringSample.STRING_UTF8_MIX_LOWERCASE);
+
+    public static UTF8StringPointable STRING_LEN_127 = UTF8StringPointable
+            .generateUTF8Pointable(UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_127);
+    public static UTF8StringPointable STRING_LEN_128 = UTF8StringPointable
+            .generateUTF8Pointable(UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_128);
+
+    @Test
+    public void testGetStringLength() throws Exception {
+        UTF8StringPointable utf8Ptr = UTF8StringPointable.generateUTF8Pointable(UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_127);
+        assertEquals(127, utf8Ptr.getUTF8Length());
+        assertEquals(1, utf8Ptr.getMetaDataLength());
+        assertEquals(127, utf8Ptr.getStringLength());
+
+        byte[] bytes = UTF8StringUtil.writeStringToBytes(UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_128);
+        utf8Ptr.set(bytes, 0, bytes.length);
+        assertEquals(128, utf8Ptr.getUTF8Length());
+        assertEquals(2, utf8Ptr.getMetaDataLength());
+        assertEquals(128, utf8Ptr.getStringLength());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testContains() throws Exception {
+        assertTrue(STRING_UTF8_MIX.contains(STRING_UTF8_MIX, false));
+        assertTrue(STRING_UTF8_MIX.contains(STRING_UTF8_MIX, true));
+        assertTrue(STRING_UTF8_MIX.contains(STRING_EMPTY, true));
+
+        assertTrue(STRING_UTF8_MIX.contains(STRING_UTF8_MIX_LOWERCASE, true));
+        assertTrue(STRING_UTF8_MIX_LOWERCASE.contains(STRING_UTF8_MIX, true));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testStartsWith() throws Exception {
+        assertTrue(STRING_LEN_128.startsWith(STRING_LEN_127, true));
+        assertFalse(STRING_LEN_127.startsWith(STRING_LEN_128, true));
+
+        assertTrue(STRING_LEN_127.startsWith(STRING_EMPTY, true));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testEndsWith() throws Exception {
+        assertTrue(STRING_LEN_128.endsWith(STRING_LEN_127, true));
+        assertFalse(STRING_LEN_127.endsWith(STRING_LEN_128, true));
+
+        assertTrue(STRING_LEN_127.startsWith(STRING_EMPTY, true));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testConcat() throws Exception {
+        UTF8StringPointable expected = UTF8StringPointable.generateUTF8Pointable(
+                UTF8StringSample.generateStringRepeatBy(UTF8StringSample.ONE_ASCII_CHAR, 127 + 128));
+
+        GrowableArray storage = new GrowableArray();
+        UTF8StringBuilder builder = new UTF8StringBuilder();
+        STRING_LEN_127.concat(STRING_LEN_128, builder, storage);
+
+        UTF8StringPointable actual = new UTF8StringPointable();
+        actual.set(storage.getByteArray(), 0, storage.getLength());
+
+        assertEquals(0, expected.compareTo(actual));
+
+        storage.reset();
+        STRING_LEN_127.concat(STRING_EMPTY, builder, storage);
+        actual.set(storage.getByteArray(), 0, storage.getLength());
+
+        assertEquals(0, STRING_LEN_127.compareTo(actual));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testSubstr() throws Exception {
+        GrowableArray storage = new GrowableArray();
+        UTF8StringBuilder builder = new UTF8StringBuilder();
+
+        STRING_LEN_128.substr(1, 127, builder, storage);
+        UTF8StringPointable result = new UTF8StringPointable();
+        result.set(storage.getByteArray(), 0, storage.getLength());
+
+        assertEquals(0, STRING_LEN_127.compareTo(result));
+
+        storage.reset();
+        STRING_UTF8_MIX.substr(0, UTF8StringSample.STRING_UTF8_MIX.length(), builder, storage);
+        result.set(storage.getByteArray(), 0, storage.getLength());
+        assertEquals(0, STRING_UTF8_MIX.compareTo(result));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testSubstrBefore() throws Exception {
+        UTF8StringBuilder builder = new UTF8StringBuilder();
+        GrowableArray storage = new GrowableArray();
+
+        STRING_LEN_128.substrBefore(STRING_LEN_127, builder, storage);
+        UTF8StringPointable result = new UTF8StringPointable();
+        result.set(storage.getByteArray(), 0, storage.getLength());
+
+        assertEquals(0, STRING_EMPTY.compareTo(result));
+
+        storage.reset();
+        UTF8StringPointable testPtr = UTF8StringPointable.generateUTF8Pointable("Mix中文123");
+        UTF8StringPointable pattern = UTF8StringPointable.generateUTF8Pointable("文");
+        UTF8StringPointable expect = UTF8StringPointable.generateUTF8Pointable("Mix中");
+        testPtr.substrBefore(pattern, builder, storage);
+        result.set(storage.getByteArray(), 0, storage.getLength());
+        assertEquals(0, expect.compareTo(result));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testSubstrAfter() throws Exception {
+        UTF8StringBuilder builder = new UTF8StringBuilder();
+        GrowableArray storage = new GrowableArray();
+
+        STRING_LEN_128.substrAfter(STRING_LEN_127, builder, storage);
+        UTF8StringPointable result = new UTF8StringPointable();
+        result.set(storage.getByteArray(), 0, storage.getLength());
+
+        UTF8StringPointable expect = UTF8StringPointable
+                .generateUTF8Pointable(Character.toString(UTF8StringSample.ONE_ASCII_CHAR));
+        assertEquals(0, expect.compareTo(result));
+
+        storage.reset();
+        UTF8StringPointable testPtr = UTF8StringPointable.generateUTF8Pointable("Mix中文123");
+        UTF8StringPointable pattern = UTF8StringPointable.generateUTF8Pointable("文");
+        expect = UTF8StringPointable.generateUTF8Pointable("123");
+        testPtr.substrAfter(pattern, builder, storage);
+        result.set(storage.getByteArray(), 0, storage.getLength());
+        assertEquals(0, expect.compareTo(result));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testLowercase() throws Exception {
+        UTF8StringBuilder builder = new UTF8StringBuilder();
+        GrowableArray storage = new GrowableArray();
+
+        UTF8StringPointable result = new UTF8StringPointable();
+        STRING_UTF8_MIX.lowercase(builder, storage);
+
+        result.set(storage.getByteArray(), 0, storage.getLength());
+
+        assertEquals(0, STRING_UTF8_MIX_LOWERCASE.compareTo(result));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testUppercase() throws Exception {
+        UTF8StringBuilder builder = new UTF8StringBuilder();
+        GrowableArray storage = new GrowableArray();
+
+        UTF8StringPointable result = new UTF8StringPointable();
+        STRING_UTF8_MIX_LOWERCASE.uppercase(builder, storage);
+
+        result.set(storage.getByteArray(), 0, storage.getLength());
+
+        UTF8StringPointable expected = UTF8StringPointable
+                .generateUTF8Pointable(UTF8StringSample.STRING_UTF8_MIX_LOWERCASE.toUpperCase());
+        assertEquals(0, expected.compareTo(result));
+
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/UTF8StringBuilderTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/UTF8StringBuilderTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bc0c629
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/UTF8StringBuilderTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class UTF8StringBuilderTest {
+
+    UTF8StringBuilder utf8StringBuilder = new UTF8StringBuilder();
+    GrowableArray storage = new GrowableArray();
+
+    @Test
+    public void testNormalBuilder() throws IOException {
+        testOneString(UTF8StringSample.EMPTY_STRING, 0);
+        testOneString(UTF8StringSample.EMPTY_STRING, 127);
+
+        testOneString(UTF8StringSample.STRING_UTF8_MIX, 127);
+        testOneString(UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_128, 128);
+
+        testOneString(UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_MEDIUM, VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.BOUND_TWO_BYTE);
+        testOneString(UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_LARGE, VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.BOUND_THREE_BYTE);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testShrinkAfterFinish() throws IOException {
+        testOneString(UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_127, VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.BOUND_TWO_BYTE);
+        testOneString(UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_127, VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.BOUND_THREE_BYTE);
+        testOneString(UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_127, VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.BOUND_FOUR_BYTE);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testIncreaseAfterFinish() throws IOException {
+        testOneString(UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_128, VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.BOUND_ONE_BYTE);
+        testOneString(UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_MEDIUM, VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.BOUND_ONE_BYTE);
+        testOneString(UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_LARGE, VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.BOUND_TWO_BYTE);
+    }
+
+    public void testOneString(String testString, int estimateLength) throws IOException {
+        storage.reset();
+        utf8StringBuilder.reset(storage, estimateLength);
+        for (char c : testString.toCharArray()) {
+            utf8StringBuilder.appendChar(c);
+        }
+        utf8StringBuilder.finish();
+        assertEquals(testString, UTF8StringUtil.toString(new StringBuilder(), storage.getByteArray(), 0).toString());
+
+        UTF8StringPointable hyracksUtf = new UTF8StringPointable();
+        hyracksUtf.set(storage.getByteArray(), 0, storage.getLength());
+
+        GrowableArray storage2 = new GrowableArray();
+        utf8StringBuilder.reset(storage2, estimateLength);
+        utf8StringBuilder.appendUtf8StringPointable(hyracksUtf);
+        utf8StringBuilder.finish();
+        assertEquals(testString, UTF8StringUtil.toString(new StringBuilder(), storage.getByteArray(), 0).toString());
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/UTF8StringCharacterIteratorTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/UTF8StringCharacterIteratorTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5268c82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-data/hyracks-data-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/data/std/util/UTF8StringCharacterIteratorTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class UTF8StringCharacterIteratorTest {
+
+    private UTF8StringCharacterIterator iterator = new UTF8StringCharacterIterator();
+
+    private void testEachIterator(String testString) {
+        UTF8StringPointable ptr = UTF8StringPointable.generateUTF8Pointable(testString);
+        iterator.reset(ptr);
+        for (char ch : testString.toCharArray()) {
+            assertTrue(iterator.hasNext());
+            assertEquals(ch, iterator.next());
+        }
+        assertFalse(iterator.hasNext());
+
+        iterator.reset();
+        for (char ch : testString.toCharArray()) {
+            assertTrue(iterator.hasNext());
+            assertEquals(ch, iterator.next());
+        }
+        assertFalse(iterator.hasNext());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testIterator(){
+        testEachIterator(UTF8StringSample.EMPTY_STRING);
+        testEachIterator(UTF8StringSample.STRING_UTF8_MIX);
+        testEachIterator(UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_128);
+        testEachIterator(UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_128);
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/pom.xml b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/pom.xml
index c6e85cd..ad4dfa7 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/pom.xml
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/pom.xml
@@ -17,48 +17,61 @@
  ! under the License.
  !-->
 
-<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">
-  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
-  <artifactId>hyracks-dataflow-common</artifactId>
-  <name>hyracks-dataflow-common</name>
-  <parent>
-    <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
-    <artifactId>hyracks</artifactId>
-    <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
-  </parent>
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">
+    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+    <artifactId>hyracks-dataflow-common</artifactId>
+    <name>hyracks-dataflow-common</name>
+    <parent>
+        <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+        <artifactId>hyracks</artifactId>
+        <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    </parent>
 
-  <licenses>
-    <license>
-      <name>Apache License, Version 2.0</name>
-      <url>http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.txt</url>
-      <distribution>repo</distribution>
-      <comments>A business-friendly OSS license</comments>
-    </license>
-  </licenses>
+    <licenses>
+        <license>
+            <name>Apache License, Version 2.0</name>
+            <url>http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.txt</url>
+            <distribution>repo</distribution>
+            <comments>A business-friendly OSS license</comments>
+        </license>
+    </licenses>
 
 
-  <dependencies>
-  	<dependency>
-  		<groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
-  		<artifactId>hyracks-api</artifactId>
-  		<version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
-  		<type>jar</type>
-  		<scope>compile</scope>
-  	</dependency>
-  	<dependency>
-  		<groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
-  		<artifactId>hyracks-data-std</artifactId>
-  		<version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
-    </dependency>
-       <dependency>
-  		<groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
-  		<artifactId>hyracks-control-nc</artifactId>
-  		<version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
-        <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-         <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
-         <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
-    </dependency>
-  </dependencies>
+    <dependencies>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+            <artifactId>hyracks-util</artifactId>
+            <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+            <artifactId>hyracks-util</artifactId>
+            <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+            <type>test-jar</type>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+            <artifactId>hyracks-api</artifactId>
+            <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+            <type>jar</type>
+            <scope>compile</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+            <artifactId>hyracks-data-std</artifactId>
+            <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+            <artifactId>hyracks-control-nc</artifactId>
+            <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+    </dependencies>
 </project>
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/marshalling/ByteArraySerializerDeserializer.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/marshalling/ByteArraySerializerDeserializer.java
index 4c8bc1e..d16fca7 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/marshalling/ByteArraySerializerDeserializer.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/marshalling/ByteArraySerializerDeserializer.java
@@ -19,57 +19,71 @@
 
 package org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.marshalling;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
-import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.ByteArrayPointable;
-
 import java.io.DataInput;
 import java.io.DataOutput;
 import java.io.IOException;
 
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.ByteArrayPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder;
+
 public class ByteArraySerializerDeserializer implements ISerializerDeserializer<byte[]> {
 
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 
-    public final static ByteArraySerializerDeserializer INSTANCE = new ByteArraySerializerDeserializer();
-
-    private ByteArraySerializerDeserializer() {
+    public ByteArraySerializerDeserializer() {
     }
 
+    private byte[] metaBuffer = new byte[5];
+
+    /**
+     * Return a pure byte array which doesn't have the length encoding prefix
+     *
+     * @param in - Stream to read instance from.
+     * @return
+     * @throws HyracksDataException
+     */
     @Override
     public byte[] deserialize(DataInput in) throws HyracksDataException {
         try {
-            int length = in.readUnsignedShort();
-            byte[] bytes = new byte[length + ByteArrayPointable.SIZE_OF_LENGTH];
-            in.readFully(bytes, ByteArrayPointable.SIZE_OF_LENGTH, length);
-            ByteArrayPointable.putLength(length, bytes, 0);
+            int contentLength = VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.decode(in);
+            byte[] bytes = new byte[contentLength];
+            in.readFully(bytes, 0, contentLength);
             return bytes;
         } catch (IOException e) {
             throw new HyracksDataException(e);
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * a pure content only byte array which doesn't have the encoded length at the beginning.
+     * will write the entire array into the out
+     */
     @Override
     public void serialize(byte[] instance, DataOutput out) throws HyracksDataException {
-
-        if (instance.length > ByteArrayPointable.MAX_LENGTH) {
-            throw new HyracksDataException(
-                    "encoded byte array too long: " + instance.length + " bytes");
-        }
         try {
-            int realLength = ByteArrayPointable.getFullLength(instance, 0);
-            out.write(instance, 0, realLength);
+            int metaLength = VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.encode(instance.length, metaBuffer, 0);
+            out.write(metaBuffer, 0, metaLength);
+            out.write(instance);
         } catch (IOException e) {
             throw new HyracksDataException(e);
         }
     }
 
-    public void serialize(byte[] instance, int start, int length, DataOutput out) throws HyracksDataException {
-        if (length > ByteArrayPointable.MAX_LENGTH) {
-            throw new HyracksDataException(
-                    "encoded byte array too long: " + instance.length + " bytes");
-        }
+    public void serialize(ByteArrayPointable byteArrayPtr, DataOutput out) throws HyracksDataException {
         try {
+            out.write(byteArrayPtr.getByteArray(), byteArrayPtr.getStartOffset(), byteArrayPtr.getLength());
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new HyracksDataException(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    // A pure byte array, which doesn't have the length information encoded at the beginning
+    public void serialize(byte[] instance, int start, int length, DataOutput out) throws HyracksDataException {
+        int metaLength = VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.encode(length, metaBuffer, 0);
+        try {
+            out.write(metaBuffer, 0, metaLength);
             out.write(instance, start, length);
         } catch (IOException e) {
             throw new HyracksDataException(e);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/marshalling/UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/marshalling/UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.java
index 2435672..aee11bc 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/marshalling/UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/marshalling/UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.java
@@ -24,19 +24,21 @@
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringReader;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringWriter;
 
 public class UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer implements ISerializerDeserializer<String> {
-    public static final UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer INSTANCE = new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer();
 
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+    private UTF8StringReader reader = new UTF8StringReader();
+    private UTF8StringWriter writer = new UTF8StringWriter();
 
-    private UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() {
-    }
+    public UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() {}
 
     @Override
     public String deserialize(DataInput in) throws HyracksDataException {
         try {
-            return in.readUTF();
+            return reader.readUTF(in);
         } catch (IOException e) {
             throw new HyracksDataException(e);
         }
@@ -45,7 +47,7 @@
     @Override
     public void serialize(String instance, DataOutput out) throws HyracksDataException {
         try {
-            out.writeUTF(instance);
+            writer.writeUTF8(instance, out);
         } catch (IOException e) {
             throw new HyracksDataException(e);
         }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/normalizers/ByteArrayNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/normalizers/ByteArrayNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java
index b7d302b..3d081af 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/normalizers/ByteArrayNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/normalizers/ByteArrayNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java
@@ -26,23 +26,12 @@
 public class ByteArrayNormalizedKeyComputerFactory implements INormalizedKeyComputerFactory {
     public static ByteArrayNormalizedKeyComputerFactory INSTANCE = new ByteArrayNormalizedKeyComputerFactory();
 
-    @Override public INormalizedKeyComputer createNormalizedKeyComputer() {
+    @Override
+    public INormalizedKeyComputer createNormalizedKeyComputer() {
         return new INormalizedKeyComputer() {
-            @Override public int normalize(byte[] bytes, int start, int length) {
-                int normalizedKey = 0;
-                int realLength = ByteArrayPointable.getLength(bytes, start);
-                for (int i = 0; i < 3; ++i) {
-                    normalizedKey <<= 8;
-                    if (i < realLength) {
-                        normalizedKey += bytes[start + ByteArrayPointable.SIZE_OF_LENGTH + i] & 0xff;
-                    }
-                }
-                // last byte, shift 7 instead of 8 to avoid negative number
-                normalizedKey <<= 7;
-                if (3 < realLength) {
-                    normalizedKey += (bytes[start + ByteArrayPointable.SIZE_OF_LENGTH + 3] & 0xfe) >> 1;
-                }
-                return normalizedKey;
+            @Override
+            public int normalize(byte[] bytes, int start, int length) {
+                return ByteArrayPointable.normalize(bytes, start);
             }
         };
     }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/normalizers/UTF8StringNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/normalizers/UTF8StringNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java
index 941afda..79936de 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/normalizers/UTF8StringNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/normalizers/UTF8StringNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.INormalizedKeyComputer;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.INormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
 
 public class UTF8StringNormalizedKeyComputerFactory implements INormalizedKeyComputerFactory {
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
@@ -30,17 +30,7 @@
         return new INormalizedKeyComputer() {
             @Override
             public int normalize(byte[] bytes, int start, int length) {
-                int len = UTF8StringPointable.getUTFLength(bytes, start);
-                int nk = 0;
-                int offset = start + 2;
-                for (int i = 0; i < 2; ++i) {
-                    nk <<= 16;
-                    if (i < len) {
-                        nk += ((int) UTF8StringPointable.charAt(bytes, offset)) & 0xffff;
-                        offset += UTF8StringPointable.charSize(bytes, offset);
-                    }
-                }
-                return nk;
+                return UTF8StringUtil.normalize(bytes, start);
             }
         };
     }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/ByteArrayBase64ParserFactory.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/ByteArrayBase64ParserFactory.java
index c71950b..c85d1b2 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/ByteArrayBase64ParserFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/ByteArrayBase64ParserFactory.java
@@ -19,12 +19,12 @@
 
 package org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.parsers;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.ByteArrayPointable;
-
 import java.io.DataOutput;
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.util.Arrays;
+
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.marshalling.ByteArraySerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.bytes.Base64Parser;
 
 public class ByteArrayBase64ParserFactory implements IValueParserFactory {
 
@@ -33,20 +33,19 @@
     private ByteArrayBase64ParserFactory() {
     }
 
-    @Override public IValueParser createValueParser() {
+    @Override
+    public IValueParser createValueParser() {
         return new IValueParser() {
-            private byte[] buffer;
-            private byte[] quadruplet = new byte[4];
+            Base64Parser parser = new Base64Parser();
+            ByteArraySerializerDeserializer serializer = new ByteArraySerializerDeserializer();
 
-            @Override public void parse(char[] input, int start, int length, DataOutput out)
+            @Override
+            public void parse(char[] input, int start, int length, DataOutput out)
                     throws HyracksDataException {
-                if (length % 4 != 0) {
-                    throw new HyracksDataException(
-                            "Invalid Base64 string, the length of the string should be a multiple of 4");
-                }
-                buffer = extractPointableArrayFromBase64String(input, start, length, buffer, quadruplet);
+
+                parser.generatePureByteArrayFromBase64String(input, start, length);
                 try {
-                    out.write(buffer, 0, ByteArrayPointable.getFullLength(buffer, 0));
+                    serializer.serialize(parser.getByteArray(), 0, parser.getLength(), out);
                 } catch (IOException e) {
                     throw new HyracksDataException(e);
                 }
@@ -54,194 +53,4 @@
         };
     }
 
-    // The following base64 related implementation is copied/changed base on javax.xml.bind.DatatypeConverterImpl.java
-    private static final byte[] decodeMap = initDecodeMap();
-    private static final byte PADDING = 127;
-
-    private static byte[] initDecodeMap() {
-        byte[] map = new byte[128];
-        Arrays.fill(map, (byte) -1);
-
-        int i;
-        for (i = 'A'; i <= 'Z'; i++) {
-            map[i] = (byte) (i - 'A');
-        }
-        for (i = 'a'; i <= 'z'; i++) {
-            map[i] = (byte) (i - 'a' + 26);
-        }
-        for (i = '0'; i <= '9'; i++) {
-            map[i] = (byte) (i - '0' + 52);
-        }
-        map['+'] = 62;
-        map['/'] = 63;
-        map['='] = PADDING;
-
-        return map;
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * computes the length of binary data speculatively.
-     * Our requirement is to create byte[] of the exact length to store the binary data.
-     * If we do this in a straight-forward way, it takes two passes over the data.
-     * Experiments show that this is a non-trivial overhead (35% or so is spent on
-     * the first pass in calculating the length.)
-     * So the approach here is that we compute the length speculatively, without looking
-     * at the whole contents. The obtained speculative value is never less than the
-     * actual length of the binary data, but it may be bigger. So if the speculation
-     * goes wrong, we'll pay the cost of reallocation and buffer copying.
-     * If the base64 text is tightly packed with no indentation nor illegal char
-     * (like what most web services produce), then the speculation of this method
-     * will be correct, so we get the performance benefit.
-     */
-    private static int guessLength(char[] chars, int start, int length) {
-
-        // compute the tail '=' chars
-        int j = length - 1;
-        for (; j >= 0; j--) {
-            byte code = decodeMap[chars[start + j]];
-            if (code == PADDING) {
-                continue;
-            }
-            if (code == -1) // most likely this base64 text is indented. go with the upper bound
-            {
-                return length / 4 * 3;
-            }
-            break;
-        }
-
-        j++;    // text.charAt(j) is now at some base64 char, so +1 to make it the size
-        int padSize = length - j;
-        if (padSize > 2) // something is wrong with base64. be safe and go with the upper bound
-        {
-            return length / 4 * 3;
-        }
-
-        // so far this base64 looks like it's unindented tightly packed base64.
-        // take a chance and create an array with the expected size
-        return length / 4 * 3 - padSize;
-    }
-
-    private static int guessLength(byte[] chars, int start, int length) {
-
-        // compute the tail '=' chars
-        int j = length - 1;
-        for (; j >= 0; j--) {
-            byte code = decodeMap[chars[start + j]];
-            if (code == PADDING) {
-                continue;
-            }
-            if (code == -1) // most likely this base64 text is indented. go with the upper bound
-            {
-                return length / 4 * 3;
-            }
-            break;
-        }
-
-        j++;    // text.charAt(j) is now at some base64 char, so +1 to make it the size
-        int padSize = length - j;
-        if (padSize > 2) // something is wrong with base64. be safe and go with the upper bound
-        {
-            return length / 4 * 3;
-        }
-
-        // so far this base64 looks like it's unindented tightly packed base64.
-        // take a chance and create an array with the expected size
-        return length / 4 * 3 - padSize;
-    }
-
-    public static byte[] extractPointableArrayFromBase64String(byte[] input, int start, int length,
-            byte[] bufferNeedToReset, byte[] quadruplet)
-            throws HyracksDataException {
-        int contentOffset = ByteArrayPointable.SIZE_OF_LENGTH;
-        final int buflen = guessLength(input, start, length) + contentOffset;
-        bufferNeedToReset = ByteArrayHexParserFactory.ensureCapacity(buflen, bufferNeedToReset);
-        int byteArrayLength = parseBase64String(input, start, length, bufferNeedToReset, contentOffset,
-                quadruplet);
-        if (byteArrayLength > ByteArrayPointable.MAX_LENGTH) {
-            throw new HyracksDataException("The decoded byte array is too long.");
-        }
-        ByteArrayPointable.putLength(byteArrayLength, bufferNeedToReset, 0);
-        return bufferNeedToReset;
-    }
-
-    public static byte[] extractPointableArrayFromBase64String(char[] input, int start, int length,
-            byte[] bufferNeedToReset, byte[] quadruplet)
-            throws HyracksDataException {
-        int contentOffset = ByteArrayPointable.SIZE_OF_LENGTH;
-        final int buflen = guessLength(input, start, length) + contentOffset;
-        bufferNeedToReset = ByteArrayHexParserFactory.ensureCapacity(buflen, bufferNeedToReset);
-        int byteArrayLength = parseBase64String(input, start, length, bufferNeedToReset, contentOffset,
-                quadruplet);
-        if (byteArrayLength > ByteArrayPointable.MAX_LENGTH) {
-            throw new HyracksDataException("The decoded byte array is too long.");
-        }
-        ByteArrayPointable.putLength(byteArrayLength, bufferNeedToReset, 0);
-        return bufferNeedToReset;
-    }
-
-    static int parseBase64String(char[] input, int start, int length, byte[] out, int offset,
-            byte[] quadruplet) throws HyracksDataException {
-        int outLength = 0;
-
-        int i;
-        int q = 0;
-
-        // convert each quadruplet to three bytes.
-        for (i = 0; i < length; i++) {
-            char ch = input[start + i];
-            byte v = decodeMap[ch];
-
-            if (v == -1) {
-                throw new HyracksDataException("Invalid Base64 character");
-            }
-            quadruplet[q++] = v;
-
-            if (q == 4) {
-                // quadruplet is now filled.
-                out[offset + outLength++] = (byte) ((quadruplet[0] << 2) | (quadruplet[1] >> 4));
-                if (quadruplet[2] != PADDING) {
-                    out[offset + outLength++] = (byte) ((quadruplet[1] << 4) | (quadruplet[2] >> 2));
-                }
-                if (quadruplet[3] != PADDING) {
-                    out[offset + outLength++] = (byte) ((quadruplet[2] << 6) | (quadruplet[3]));
-                }
-                q = 0;
-            }
-        }
-
-        return outLength;
-    }
-
-    static int parseBase64String(byte[] input, int start, int length, byte[] out, int offset,
-            byte[] quadruplet) throws HyracksDataException {
-        int outLength = 0;
-
-        int i;
-        int q = 0;
-
-        // convert each quadruplet to three bytes.
-        for (i = 0; i < length; i++) {
-            char ch = (char)input[start + i];
-            byte v = decodeMap[ch];
-
-            if (v == -1) {
-                throw new HyracksDataException("Invalid Base64 character");
-            }
-            quadruplet[q++] = v;
-
-            if (q == 4) {
-                // quadruplet is now filled.
-                out[offset + outLength++] = (byte) ((quadruplet[0] << 2) | (quadruplet[1] >> 4));
-                if (quadruplet[2] != PADDING) {
-                    out[offset + outLength++] = (byte) ((quadruplet[1] << 4) | (quadruplet[2] >> 2));
-                }
-                if (quadruplet[3] != PADDING) {
-                    out[offset + outLength++] = (byte) ((quadruplet[2] << 6) | (quadruplet[3]));
-                }
-                q = 0;
-            }
-        }
-
-        return outLength;
-    }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/ByteArrayHexParserFactory.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/ByteArrayHexParserFactory.java
index ec249f3..f1f1eb1 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/ByteArrayHexParserFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/ByteArrayHexParserFactory.java
@@ -19,12 +19,12 @@
 
 package org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.parsers;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.ByteArrayPointable;
-
 import java.io.DataOutput;
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.util.Arrays;
+
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.marshalling.ByteArraySerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.bytes.HexParser;
 
 public class ByteArrayHexParserFactory implements IValueParserFactory {
     public static ByteArrayHexParserFactory INSTANCE = new ByteArrayHexParserFactory();
@@ -32,15 +32,18 @@
     private ByteArrayHexParserFactory() {
     }
 
-    @Override public IValueParser createValueParser() {
+    @Override
+    public IValueParser createValueParser() {
         return new IValueParser() {
-            private byte[] buffer = new byte[] { };
+            HexParser parser = new HexParser();
+            ByteArraySerializerDeserializer serializer = new ByteArraySerializerDeserializer();
 
-            @Override public void parse(char[] input, int start, int length, DataOutput out)
+            @Override
+            public void parse(char[] input, int start, int length, DataOutput out)
                     throws HyracksDataException {
                 try {
-                    buffer = extractPointableArrayFromHexString(input, start, length, buffer);
-                    out.write(buffer, 0, ByteArrayPointable.getFullLength(buffer, 0));
+                    parser.generateByteArrayFromHexString(input, start, length);
+                    serializer.serialize(parser.getByteArray(), 0, parser.getLength(), out);
                 } catch (IOException e) {
                     throw new HyracksDataException(e);
                 }
@@ -48,85 +51,4 @@
         };
     }
 
-    public static boolean isValidHexChar(char c) {
-        if (c >= '0' && c <= '9'
-                || c >= 'a' && c <= 'f'
-                || c >= 'A' && c <= 'F') {
-            return true;
-        }
-        return false;
-    }
-
-    public static byte[] extractPointableArrayFromHexString(char[] input, int start, int length,
-            byte[] bufferNeedToReset) throws HyracksDataException {
-        if (length % 2 != 0) {
-            throw new HyracksDataException(
-                    "Invalid hex string for binary type: the string length should be a muliple of 2.");
-        }
-        int byteLength = length / 2;
-        bufferNeedToReset = ensureCapacity(byteLength + ByteArrayPointable.SIZE_OF_LENGTH, bufferNeedToReset);
-        extractByteArrayFromHexString(input, start, length, bufferNeedToReset,
-                ByteArrayPointable.SIZE_OF_LENGTH);
-        if (byteLength > ByteArrayPointable.MAX_LENGTH) {
-            throw new HyracksDataException("The decoded byte array is too long.");
-        }
-        ByteArrayPointable.putLength(byteLength, bufferNeedToReset, 0);
-        return bufferNeedToReset;
-    }
-
-    public static byte[] extractPointableArrayFromHexString(byte[] input, int start, int length,
-            byte[] bufferNeedToReset) throws HyracksDataException {
-        if (length % 2 != 0) {
-            throw new HyracksDataException(
-                    "Invalid hex string for binary type: the string length should be a muliple of 2.");
-        }
-        int byteLength = length / 2;
-        bufferNeedToReset = ensureCapacity(byteLength + ByteArrayPointable.SIZE_OF_LENGTH, bufferNeedToReset);
-        extractByteArrayFromHexString(input, start, length, bufferNeedToReset,
-                ByteArrayPointable.SIZE_OF_LENGTH);
-        if (byteLength > ByteArrayPointable.MAX_LENGTH) {
-            throw new HyracksDataException("The decoded byte array is too long.");
-        }
-        ByteArrayPointable.putLength(byteLength, bufferNeedToReset, 0);
-        return bufferNeedToReset;
-    }
-
-    static byte[] ensureCapacity(int capacity, byte[] original) {
-        if (original == null) {
-            return new byte[capacity];
-        }
-        if (original.length < capacity) {
-            return Arrays.copyOf(original, capacity);
-        }
-        return original;
-    }
-
-    private static int getValueFromValidHexChar(char c) throws HyracksDataException {
-        if (!isValidHexChar(c)) {
-            throw new HyracksDataException("Invalid hex character : " + c);
-        }
-        if (c >= '0' && c <= '9') {
-            return c - '0';
-        }
-        if (c >= 'a' && c <= 'f') {
-            return 10 + c - 'a';
-        }
-        return 10 + c - 'A';
-    }
-
-    private static void extractByteArrayFromHexString(char[] input, int start, int length, byte[] output,
-            int offset) throws HyracksDataException {
-        for (int i = 0; i < length; i += 2) {
-            output[offset + i / 2] = (byte) ((getValueFromValidHexChar(input[start + i]) << 4) +
-                    getValueFromValidHexChar(input[start + i + 1]));
-        }
-    }
-
-    private static void extractByteArrayFromHexString(byte[] input, int start, int length, byte[] output,
-            int offset) throws HyracksDataException {
-        for (int i = 0; i < length; i += 2) {
-            output[offset + i / 2] = (byte) ((getValueFromValidHexChar((char)input[start + i]) << 4) +
-                    getValueFromValidHexChar((char)input[start + i + 1]));
-        }
-    }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/UTF8StringParserFactory.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/UTF8StringParserFactory.java
index 7294e2d..58ee687 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/UTF8StringParserFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/UTF8StringParserFactory.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringWriter;
 
 public class UTF8StringParserFactory implements IValueParserFactory {
     public static final IValueParserFactory INSTANCE = new UTF8StringParserFactory();
@@ -34,53 +35,12 @@
     @Override
     public IValueParser createValueParser() {
         return new IValueParser() {
-            private byte[] utf8;
+            private UTF8StringWriter writer = new UTF8StringWriter();
 
             @Override
             public void parse(char[] buffer, int start, int length, DataOutput out) throws HyracksDataException {
-                int utflen = 0;
-                for (int i = 0; i < length; i++) {
-                    char ch = buffer[i + start];
-                    if ((ch >= 0x0001) && (ch <= 0x007F)) {
-                        utflen++;
-                    } else if (ch > 0x07ff) {
-                        utflen += 3;
-                    } else {
-                        utflen += 2;
-                    }
-                }
-
-                if (utf8 == null || utf8.length < utflen + 2) {
-                    utf8 = new byte[utflen + 2];
-                }
-
-                int count = 0;
-                utf8[count++] = (byte) ((utflen >>> 8) & 0xff);
-                utf8[count++] = (byte) ((utflen >>> 0) & 0xff);
-
-                int i = 0;
-                for (i = 0; i < length; i++) {
-                    char ch = buffer[i + start];
-                    if (!((ch >= 0x0001) && (ch <= 0x007F)))
-                        break;
-                    utf8[count++] = (byte) ch;
-                }
-
-                for (; i < length; i++) {
-                    char ch = buffer[i + start];
-                    if ((ch >= 0x0001) && (ch <= 0x007F)) {
-                        utf8[count++] = (byte) ch;
-                    } else if (ch > 0x07FF) {
-                        utf8[count++] = (byte) (0xE0 | ((ch >> 12) & 0x0F));
-                        utf8[count++] = (byte) (0x80 | ((ch >> 6) & 0x3F));
-                        utf8[count++] = (byte) (0x80 | ((ch >> 0) & 0x3F));
-                    } else {
-                        utf8[count++] = (byte) (0xC0 | ((ch >> 6) & 0x1F));
-                        utf8[count++] = (byte) (0x80 | ((ch >> 0) & 0x3F));
-                    }
-                }
                 try {
-                    out.write(utf8, 0, utflen + 2);
+                    writer.writeUTF8(buffer, start, length, out);
                 } catch (IOException e) {
                     throw new HyracksDataException(e);
                 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/util/StringUtils.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/util/StringUtils.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 3b05824..0000000
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/util/StringUtils.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,47 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
- * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
- * distributed with this work for additional information
- * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
- * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
- * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
- * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
- * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
- * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
- * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
- * specific language governing permissions and limitations
- * under the License.
- */
-package org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.util;
-
-import java.io.DataOutput;
-import java.io.IOException;
-
-public class StringUtils {
-    public static int writeCharAsModifiedUTF8(char c, DataOutput dos) throws IOException {
-        if (c >= 0x0000 && c <= 0x007F) {
-            dos.writeByte(c);
-            return 1;
-        } else if (c <= 0x07FF) {
-            dos.writeByte((byte) (0xC0 | ((c >> 6) & 0x3F)));
-            dos.writeByte((byte) (0x80 | (c & 0x3F)));
-            return 2;
-        } else {
-            dos.writeByte((byte) (0xE0 | ((c >> 12) & 0x0F)));
-            dos.writeByte((byte) (0x80 | ((c >> 6) & 0x3F)));
-            dos.writeByte((byte) (0x80 | (c & 0x3F)));
-            return 3;
-        }
-    }
-
-    public static void writeUTF8Len(int len, DataOutput dos) throws IOException {
-        dos.write((len >>> 8) & 0xFF);
-        dos.write((len >>> 0) & 0xFF);
-    }
-
-
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/comm/io/largeobject/FrameFixedFieldTupleAppenderTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/comm/io/largeobject/FrameFixedFieldTupleAppenderTest.java
index ad4461d..05710ad 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/comm/io/largeobject/FrameFixedFieldTupleAppenderTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/comm/io/largeobject/FrameFixedFieldTupleAppenderTest.java
@@ -53,9 +53,9 @@
     FrameFixedFieldAppender appender;
     static ISerializerDeserializer[] fields = new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
             IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
             IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
     };
     static RecordDescriptor recordDescriptor = new RecordDescriptor(fields);
     static ArrayTupleBuilder tupleBuilder = new ArrayTupleBuilder(recordDescriptor.getFieldCount());
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/marshalling/ByteArraySerializerDeserializerTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/marshalling/ByteArraySerializerDeserializerTest.java
index 8534388..f0e831a 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/marshalling/ByteArraySerializerDeserializerTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/marshalling/ByteArraySerializerDeserializerTest.java
@@ -19,58 +19,44 @@
 
 package org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.marshalling;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.ByteArrayPointable;
-import org.junit.Test;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 
 import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.DataInputStream;
 import java.io.DataOutputStream;
 import java.util.Arrays;
-import java.util.Random;
 
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.ByteArrayPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample;
+import org.junit.Test;
 
 public class ByteArraySerializerDeserializerTest {
-    Random random = new Random();
 
-    public static byte[] generateRandomBytes(int maxSize, Random random) {
-        int size = random.nextInt(maxSize);
-        byte[] bytes = new byte[size + ByteArrayPointable.SIZE_OF_LENGTH];
-        random.nextBytes(bytes);
-        ByteArrayPointable.putLength(size, bytes, 0);
-        return bytes;
-    }
+    ByteArrayPointable bytePtr = new ByteArrayPointable();
+    ByteArraySerializerDeserializer serder = new ByteArraySerializerDeserializer();
 
     @Test
     public void testSerializeDeserializeRandomBytes() throws Exception {
-        for (int i = 0; i < 10; ++i) {
-            ByteArrayOutputStream outputStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
-            byte[] randomBytes = generateRandomBytes(ByteArrayPointable.MAX_LENGTH + 1, random);
-
-            ByteArraySerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE.serialize(randomBytes, new DataOutputStream(outputStream));
-            byte[] result = outputStream.toByteArray();
-            assertTrue(Arrays.equals(randomBytes, result));
-
-            ByteArrayInputStream inputStream = new ByteArrayInputStream(result);
-            assertTrue(Arrays.equals(randomBytes,
-                    ByteArraySerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE.deserialize(new DataInputStream(inputStream))));
-        }
-
+        testOneByteArray(UTF8StringSample.EMPTY_STRING.getBytes());
+        testOneByteArray(UTF8StringSample.STRING_UTF8_MIX.getBytes());
+        testOneByteArray(UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_128.getBytes());
+        testOneByteArray(UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_MEDIUM.getBytes());
+        testOneByteArray(UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_LARGE.getBytes());
     }
 
-    @Test
-    public void testPutGetLength() throws Exception {
-        final int size = 5;
-        byte[] newBytes = new byte[size];
-        for (int i = 0; i < 10; ++i) {
-            int length = random.nextInt(ByteArrayPointable.MAX_LENGTH +1);
-            for (int j = 0; j < size - 1; ++j) {
-                ByteArrayPointable.putLength(length, newBytes, j);
-                int result = ByteArrayPointable.getLength(newBytes, j);
-                assertTrue(result == length);
-            }
-        }
+    void testOneByteArray(byte[] testBytes) throws HyracksDataException {
+        ByteArrayOutputStream outputStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+
+        serder.serialize(testBytes, new DataOutputStream(outputStream));
+
+        bytePtr.set(outputStream.toByteArray(), 0, outputStream.size());
+        assertTrue(Arrays.equals(testBytes, ByteArrayPointable.copyContent(bytePtr)));
+
+        ByteArrayInputStream inputStream = new ByteArrayInputStream(outputStream.toByteArray());
+        assertTrue(Arrays.equals(testBytes, serder.deserialize(new DataInputStream(inputStream))));
+
     }
 
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/normalizers/ByteArrayNormalizedKeyComputerFactoryTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/normalizers/ByteArrayNormalizedKeyComputerFactoryTest.java
index 1645631..4d3eb49 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/normalizers/ByteArrayNormalizedKeyComputerFactoryTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/normalizers/ByteArrayNormalizedKeyComputerFactoryTest.java
@@ -19,14 +19,13 @@
 
 package org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.normalizers;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.INormalizedKeyComputer;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.ByteArrayPointable;
-import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.marshalling.ByteArraySerializerDeserializerTest;
-import org.junit.Test;
+import static junit.framework.Assert.assertTrue;
 
 import java.util.Random;
 
-import static junit.framework.Assert.assertTrue;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.INormalizedKeyComputer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.ByteArrayPointable;
+import org.junit.Test;
 
 public class ByteArrayNormalizedKeyComputerFactoryTest {
 
@@ -34,33 +33,21 @@
 
     INormalizedKeyComputer computer = ByteArrayNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.INSTANCE.createNormalizedKeyComputer();
 
-    public static ByteArrayPointable generateRandomByteArrayPointable(int maxSize, Random random) {
-        byte[] bytes = ByteArraySerializerDeserializerTest
-                .generateRandomBytes(maxSize, random);
-        ByteArrayPointable pointable = new ByteArrayPointable();
-        pointable.set(bytes, 0, bytes.length);
-        return pointable;
-    }
-
     @Test
     public void testRandomNormalizedKey() {
         for (int i = 0; i < 10; ++i) {
-            ByteArrayPointable pointable1 = generateRandomByteArrayPointable(ByteArrayPointable.MAX_LENGTH + 1,
-                    random);
-
-            ByteArrayPointable pointable2 = generateRandomByteArrayPointable(ByteArrayPointable.MAX_LENGTH + 1,
-                    random);
+            ByteArrayPointable pointable1 = generateRandomByteArrayPointableWithFixLength(
+                    Math.abs(random.nextInt((i + 1) * 10)), random);
+            ByteArrayPointable pointable2 = generateRandomByteArrayPointableWithFixLength(
+                    Math.abs(random.nextInt((i + 1) * 10)), random);
             assertNormalizeValue(pointable1, pointable2, computer);
         }
     }
 
     public static ByteArrayPointable generateRandomByteArrayPointableWithFixLength(int length, Random random) {
-        byte[] bytes = new byte[length + ByteArrayPointable.SIZE_OF_LENGTH];
+        byte[] bytes = new byte[length];
         random.nextBytes(bytes);
-        ByteArrayPointable pointable = new ByteArrayPointable();
-        ByteArrayPointable.putLength(length, bytes, 0);
-        pointable.set(bytes, 0, bytes.length);
-        return pointable;
+        return ByteArrayPointable.generatePointableFromPureBytes(bytes);
     }
 
     public static void assertNormalizeValue(ByteArrayPointable pointable1, ByteArrayPointable pointable2,
@@ -82,11 +69,12 @@
             assertNormalizeValue(pointable1, pointable2, computer);
         }
 
-        byte[] bytes1 = new byte[] { 0, 4, 0, 25, 34, 42 };
-        byte[] bytes2 = new byte[] { 0, 4, (byte) 130, 25, 34, 42 };
+        ByteArrayPointable ptr1 = ByteArrayPointable.generatePointableFromPureBytes(new byte[] { 0, 25, 34, 42 });
+        ByteArrayPointable ptr2 = ByteArrayPointable.generatePointableFromPureBytes(
+                new byte[] { (byte) 130, 25, 34, 42 });
 
-        int n1 = computer.normalize(bytes1, 0, bytes1.length);
-        int n2 = computer.normalize(bytes2, 0, bytes2.length);
+        int n1 = computer.normalize(ptr1.getByteArray(), ptr1.getStartOffset(), ptr1.getLength());
+        int n2 = computer.normalize(ptr2.getByteArray(), ptr2.getStartOffset(), ptr2.getLength());
         assertTrue(n1 < n2);
 
     }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/ByteArrayBase64ParserFactoryTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/ByteArrayBase64ParserFactoryTest.java
index fe8b03b..cec6add 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/ByteArrayBase64ParserFactoryTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/ByteArrayBase64ParserFactoryTest.java
@@ -19,32 +19,25 @@
 
 package org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.parsers;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.ByteArrayPointable;
-import junit.framework.TestCase;
-import org.junit.Test;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.ByteArrayPointable.copyContent;
 
-import javax.xml.bind.DatatypeConverter;
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.DataOutputStream;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 
-import static org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.parsers.ByteArrayHexParserFactoryTest.subArray;
+import javax.xml.bind.DatatypeConverter;
+
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.ByteArrayPointable;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import junit.framework.TestCase;
 
 public class ByteArrayBase64ParserFactoryTest extends TestCase {
 
     @Test
     public void testParseBase64String() throws HyracksDataException {
-        IValueParser parser = ByteArrayBase64ParserFactory.INSTANCE.createValueParser();
-        ByteArrayOutputStream bos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
-        DataOutputStream outputStream = new DataOutputStream(bos);
-        String empty = "";
-
-        parser.parse(empty.toCharArray(), 0, empty.length(), outputStream);
-
-        byte[] cache = bos.toByteArray();
-        assertTrue(ByteArrayPointable.getLength(cache, 0) == 0);
-        assertTrue(DatatypeConverter.printBase64Binary(subArray(cache, 2)).equalsIgnoreCase(empty));
+        testOneString("");
 
         StringBuilder everyChar = new StringBuilder();
         for (char c = 'a'; c <= 'z'; c++) {
@@ -58,21 +51,26 @@
         }
         everyChar.append("+/");
 
-        bos.reset();
-        parser.parse(everyChar.toString().toCharArray(), 0, everyChar.length(), outputStream);
-        cache = bos.toByteArray();
-        byte[] answer = DatatypeConverter.parseBase64Binary(everyChar.toString());
-        assertTrue(ByteArrayPointable.getLength(cache, 0) == answer.length);
-        assertTrue(Arrays.equals(answer, subArray(cache, 2)));
+        testOneString(everyChar.toString());
 
-        byte[] maxBytes = new byte[ByteArrayPointable.MAX_LENGTH];
-        Arrays.fill(maxBytes, (byte) 0xff);
-        String maxString = DatatypeConverter.printBase64Binary(maxBytes);
-        bos.reset();
-        parser.parse(maxString.toCharArray(), 0, maxString.length(), outputStream);
-        cache = bos.toByteArray();
-        assertTrue(ByteArrayPointable.getLength(cache, 0) == maxBytes.length);
-        assertTrue(Arrays.equals(maxBytes, subArray(cache, 2)));
+        byte[] longBytes = new byte[65536];
+        Arrays.fill(longBytes, (byte) 0xff);
+        String maxString = DatatypeConverter.printBase64Binary(longBytes);
+
+        testOneString(maxString);
     }
 
+    void testOneString(String test) throws HyracksDataException {
+        IValueParser parser = ByteArrayBase64ParserFactory.INSTANCE.createValueParser();
+        ByteArrayOutputStream bos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+        DataOutputStream outputStream = new DataOutputStream(bos);
+        ByteArrayPointable bytePtr = new ByteArrayPointable();
+
+        parser.parse(test.toCharArray(), 0, test.length(), outputStream);
+        bytePtr.set(bos.toByteArray(), 0, bos.size());
+
+        byte[] answer = DatatypeConverter.parseBase64Binary(test);
+        assertTrue(bytePtr.getContentLength() == answer.length);
+        assertTrue(Arrays.equals(answer, copyContent(bytePtr)));
+    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/ByteArrayHexParserFactoryTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/ByteArrayHexParserFactoryTest.java
index 3f25c3c..3e12837 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/ByteArrayHexParserFactoryTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/parsers/ByteArrayHexParserFactoryTest.java
@@ -19,50 +19,48 @@
 
 package org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.parsers;
 
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.io.DataOutputStream;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+
+import javax.xml.bind.DatatypeConverter;
+
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.ByteArrayPointable;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
-import javax.xml.bind.DatatypeConverter;
-import java.util.Arrays;
-
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
-
 public class ByteArrayHexParserFactoryTest {
 
-    public static byte[] subArray(byte[] bytes, int start) {
-        return Arrays.copyOfRange(bytes, start, bytes.length);
-    }
-
     @Test
     public void testExtractPointableArrayFromHexString() throws Exception {
-        byte[] cache = new byte[] { };
+        testOneString("");
+        testOneString("ABCDEF0123456789");
 
-        String empty = "";
-        cache = ByteArrayHexParserFactory
-                .extractPointableArrayFromHexString(empty.toCharArray(), 0, empty.length(), cache);
+        testOneString("0123456789abcdef");
 
-        assertTrue(ByteArrayPointable.getLength(cache, 0) == 0);
-        assertTrue(DatatypeConverter.printHexBinary(subArray(cache, 2)).equalsIgnoreCase(empty));
-
-        String everyChar = "ABCDEF0123456789";
-        cache = ByteArrayHexParserFactory
-                .extractPointableArrayFromHexString(everyChar.toCharArray(), 0, everyChar.length(), cache);
-        assertTrue(ByteArrayPointable.getLength(cache, 0) == everyChar.length() / 2);
-        assertTrue(DatatypeConverter.printHexBinary(subArray(cache, 2)).equalsIgnoreCase(everyChar));
-
-        String lowercase = "0123456789abcdef";
-        cache = ByteArrayHexParserFactory
-                .extractPointableArrayFromHexString(lowercase.toCharArray(), 0, lowercase.length(), cache);
-        assertTrue(ByteArrayPointable.getLength(cache, 0) == lowercase.length() / 2);
-        assertTrue(DatatypeConverter.printHexBinary(subArray(cache, 2)).equalsIgnoreCase(lowercase));
-
-        char[] maxChars = new char[ByteArrayPointable.MAX_LENGTH  * 2];
+        char[] maxChars = new char[65540 * 2];
         Arrays.fill(maxChars, 'f');
         String maxString = new String(maxChars);
-        cache = ByteArrayHexParserFactory
-                .extractPointableArrayFromHexString(maxString.toCharArray(), 0, maxString.length(), cache);
-        assertTrue(ByteArrayPointable.getLength(cache, 0) == maxString.length() / 2);
-        assertTrue(DatatypeConverter.printHexBinary(subArray(cache, 2)).equalsIgnoreCase(maxString));
+
+        testOneString(maxString);
+    }
+
+    void testOneString(String test) throws HyracksDataException {
+        IValueParser parser = ByteArrayHexParserFactory.INSTANCE.createValueParser();
+        ByteArrayOutputStream bos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+        DataOutputStream outputStream = new DataOutputStream(bos);
+        ByteArrayPointable bytePtr = new ByteArrayPointable();
+
+        parser.parse(test.toCharArray(), 0, test.length(), outputStream);
+
+        bytePtr.set(bos.toByteArray(), 0, bos.size());
+
+        assertTrue(bytePtr.getContentLength() == test.length() / 2);
+        assertEquals(DatatypeConverter.printHexBinary(ByteArrayPointable.copyContent(bytePtr)).toLowerCase(),
+                test.toLowerCase());
     }
 
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/std/group/aggregators/MinMaxStringFieldAggregatorFactory.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/std/group/aggregators/MinMaxStringFieldAggregatorFactory.java
index 53c60a3..4e69437 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/std/group/aggregators/MinMaxStringFieldAggregatorFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-std/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/std/group/aggregators/MinMaxStringFieldAggregatorFactory.java
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.RecordDescriptor;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.IntegerPointable;
-import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.marshalling.IntegerSerializerDeserializer;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.marshalling.UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.std.group.AggregateState;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.std.group.IFieldAggregateDescriptor;
@@ -68,6 +67,8 @@
             RecordDescriptor outRecordDescriptor) throws HyracksDataException {
         return new IFieldAggregateDescriptor() {
 
+            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer utf8SerializerDeserializer = new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer();
+
             @Override
             public void reset() {
             }
@@ -112,7 +113,7 @@
                 int tupleOffset = accessor.getTupleStartOffset(tIndex);
                 int fieldStart = accessor.getFieldStartOffset(tIndex, aggField);
                 int fieldLength = accessor.getFieldLength(tIndex, aggField);
-                String strField = UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE.deserialize(new DataInputStream(
+                String strField = utf8SerializerDeserializer.deserialize(new DataInputStream(
                         new ByteArrayInputStream(accessor.getBuffer().array(), tupleOffset
                                 + accessor.getFieldSlotsLength() + fieldStart, fieldLength)));
                 if (hasBinaryState) {
@@ -157,7 +158,7 @@
                 int tupleOffset = accessor.getTupleStartOffset(tIndex);
                 int fieldStart = accessor.getFieldStartOffset(tIndex, aggField);
                 int fieldLength = accessor.getFieldLength(tIndex, aggField);
-                String strField = UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE.deserialize(new DataInputStream(
+                String strField = utf8SerializerDeserializer.deserialize(new DataInputStream(
                         new ByteArrayInputStream(accessor.getBuffer().array(), tupleOffset
                                 + accessor.getFieldSlotsLength() + fieldStart, fieldLength)));
                 if (hasBinaryState) {
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/std/sort/buffermanager/VariableTupleMemoryManagerTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/std/sort/buffermanager/VariableTupleMemoryManagerTest.java
index 61b29fd..9651529 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/std/sort/buffermanager/VariableTupleMemoryManagerTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/std/sort/buffermanager/VariableTupleMemoryManagerTest.java
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
 
 public class VariableTupleMemoryManagerTest {
     ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldsSerDer = new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-            IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+            IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
     RecordDescriptor recordDescriptor = new RecordDescriptor(fieldsSerDer);
     ArrayTupleBuilder tupleBuilder = new ArrayTupleBuilder(recordDescriptor.getFieldCount());
     VariableTupleMemoryManager tupleMemoryManager;
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/std/sort/util/DeletableFrameTupleAppenderTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/std/sort/util/DeletableFrameTupleAppenderTest.java
index cc52b78..44a082f 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/std/sort/util/DeletableFrameTupleAppenderTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-std/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/std/sort/util/DeletableFrameTupleAppenderTest.java
@@ -25,9 +25,6 @@
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.ArrayUtils;
-import org.junit.Before;
-import org.junit.Test;
-
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.RecordDescriptor;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
@@ -36,12 +33,15 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.marshalling.UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.util.IntSerDeUtils;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.std.sort.Utility;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
 
 public class DeletableFrameTupleAppenderTest {
     DeletableFrameTupleAppender appender;
     ISerializerDeserializer[] fields = new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
             IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
     };
     RecordDescriptor recordDescriptor = new RecordDescriptor(fields);
     ArrayTupleBuilder builder = new ArrayTupleBuilder(recordDescriptor.getFieldCount());
@@ -90,7 +90,8 @@
     }
 
     int assertTupleIsExpected(int i, int dataOffset) {
-        int tupleLength = 2 * 4 + 4 + 2 + i + 1;
+        int lenStrMeta = UTF8StringUtil.getNumBytesToStoreLength(i);
+        int tupleLength = 2 * 4 + 4 + lenStrMeta + i + 1;
         assertEquals(dataOffset, appender.getTupleStartOffset(i));
         assertEquals(tupleLength, appender.getTupleLength(i));
 
@@ -99,7 +100,7 @@
         assertEquals(i + 1,
                 IntSerDeUtils.getInt(appender.getBuffer().array(), appender.getAbsoluteFieldStartOffset(i, 0)));
         assertEquals(dataOffset + 2 * 4 + 4, appender.getAbsoluteFieldStartOffset(i, 1));
-        assertEquals(2 + i + 1, appender.getFieldLength(i, 1));
+        assertEquals(lenStrMeta + i + 1, appender.getFieldLength(i, 1));
         return tupleLength;
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/InsertPipelineExample.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/InsertPipelineExample.java
index 202096a..ac521f5 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/InsertPipelineExample.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/InsertPipelineExample.java
@@ -107,15 +107,15 @@
         // string
         // we will use field 2 as primary key to fill a clustered index
         RecordDescriptor recDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, // this field will
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), // this field will
                                                            // not go into B-Tree
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, // we will use this
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), // we will use this
                                                            // as payload
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, // we will use this
                                                         // field as key
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, // we will use this as
                                                         // payload
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE // we will use this as
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() // we will use this as
                                                           // payload
                 });
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/PrimaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/PrimaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java
index a493aec..734feb4 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/PrimaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/PrimaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java
@@ -105,15 +105,15 @@
         // int, string
         // we will use field-index 2 as primary key to fill a clustered index
         RecordDescriptor recDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, // this field will
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), // this field will
                                                            // not go into B-Tree
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, // we will use this
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), // we will use this
                                                            // as payload
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, // we will use this
                                                         // field as key
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, // we will use this as
                                                         // payload
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE // we will use this as
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() // we will use this as
                                                           // payload
                 });
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/PrimaryIndexSearchExample.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/PrimaryIndexSearchExample.java
index 48b9942..df33132 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/PrimaryIndexSearchExample.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/PrimaryIndexSearchExample.java
@@ -111,8 +111,8 @@
 
         // schema of tuples coming out of primary index
         RecordDescriptor recDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, });
+                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), });
 
         // build tuple containing low and high search keys
         ArrayTupleBuilder tb = new ArrayTupleBuilder(comparatorFactories.length * 2); // high
@@ -129,8 +129,8 @@
                                                                     // high key
         tb.addFieldEndOffset();
 
-        ISerializerDeserializer[] keyRecDescSers = { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+        ISerializerDeserializer[] keyRecDescSers = { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
         RecordDescriptor keyRecDesc = new RecordDescriptor(keyRecDescSers);
 
         ConstantTupleSourceOperatorDescriptor keyProviderOp = new ConstantTupleSourceOperatorDescriptor(spec,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/SecondaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/SecondaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java
index e8e2281..8d68021 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/SecondaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/SecondaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java
@@ -105,10 +105,10 @@
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, // we will use this as
                                                         // payload in secondary
                                                         // index
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, // we will use this
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), // we will use this
                                                            // ask key in
                                                            // secondary index
-                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         int primaryFieldCount = 4;
         ITypeTraits[] primaryTypeTraits = new ITypeTraits[primaryFieldCount];
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/SecondaryIndexSearchExample.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/SecondaryIndexSearchExample.java
index 1a1559f..0e80272 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/SecondaryIndexSearchExample.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/btree/client/SecondaryIndexSearchExample.java
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@
 
         // schema of tuples coming out of secondary index
         RecordDescriptor secondaryRecDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
         int secondaryFieldCount = 2;
         ITypeTraits[] secondaryTypeTraits = new ITypeTraits[secondaryFieldCount];
@@ -120,8 +120,8 @@
 
         // schema of tuples coming out of primary index
         RecordDescriptor primaryRecDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, });
+                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), });
 
         int primaryFieldCount = 4;
         ITypeTraits[] primaryTypeTraits = new ITypeTraits[primaryFieldCount];
@@ -145,15 +145,15 @@
         DataOutput dos = tb.getDataOutput();
 
         tb.reset();
-        UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE.serialize("0", dos); // low
+        new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer().serialize("0", dos); // low
                                                                        // key
         tb.addFieldEndOffset();
-        UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE.serialize("f", dos); // high
+        new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer().serialize("f", dos); // high
                                                                        // key
         tb.addFieldEndOffset();
 
-        ISerializerDeserializer[] keyRecDescSers = { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+        ISerializerDeserializer[] keyRecDescSers = { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
         RecordDescriptor keyRecDesc = new RecordDescriptor(keyRecDescSers);
 
         ConstantTupleSourceOperatorDescriptor keyProviderOp = new ConstantTupleSourceOperatorDescriptor(spec,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/AbstractBTreeOperatorTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/AbstractBTreeOperatorTest.java
index 4aeebe7..837a8a4 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/AbstractBTreeOperatorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/AbstractBTreeOperatorTest.java
@@ -82,9 +82,9 @@
     protected final int[] primaryBloomFilterKeyFields = new int[primaryKeyFieldCount];
 
     protected final RecordDescriptor primaryRecDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
     // to be set by subclasses
     protected String primaryFileName;
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@
     protected final int[] secondaryBloomFilterKeyFields = new int[secondaryKeyFieldCount];
 
     protected final RecordDescriptor secondaryRecDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
     protected String secondaryFileName;
     protected IFileSplitProvider secondarySplitProvider;
@@ -160,11 +160,11 @@
                 "data/tpch0.001/orders-part1.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -217,11 +217,11 @@
         DataOutput dos = tb.getDataOutput();
 
         tb.reset();
-        UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE.serialize("0", dos);
+        new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer().serialize("0", dos);
         tb.addFieldEndOffset();
 
-        ISerializerDeserializer[] keyRecDescSers = { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+        ISerializerDeserializer[] keyRecDescSers = { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
         RecordDescriptor keyRecDesc = new RecordDescriptor(keyRecDescSers);
 
         ConstantTupleSourceOperatorDescriptor keyProviderOp = new ConstantTupleSourceOperatorDescriptor(spec,
@@ -272,11 +272,11 @@
                 "data/tpch0.001/orders-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexScanOperatorTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexScanOperatorTest.java
index c4068a7..d4fb56d 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexScanOperatorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexScanOperatorTest.java
@@ -59,11 +59,11 @@
         DataOutput dos = tb.getDataOutput();
 
         tb.reset();
-        UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE.serialize("0", dos);
+        new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer().serialize("0", dos);
         tb.addFieldEndOffset();
 
-        ISerializerDeserializer[] keyRecDescSers = { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+        ISerializerDeserializer[] keyRecDescSers = { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
         RecordDescriptor keyRecDesc = new RecordDescriptor(keyRecDescSers);
 
         ConstantTupleSourceOperatorDescriptor keyProviderOp = new ConstantTupleSourceOperatorDescriptor(spec,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexSearchOperatorTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexSearchOperatorTest.java
index 5429135..e690423 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexSearchOperatorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexSearchOperatorTest.java
@@ -61,14 +61,14 @@
 
         tb.reset();
         // low key
-        UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE.serialize("100", dos);
+        new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer().serialize("100", dos);
         tb.addFieldEndOffset();
         // high key
-        UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE.serialize("200", dos);
+        new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer().serialize("200", dos);
         tb.addFieldEndOffset();
 
-        ISerializerDeserializer[] keyRecDescSers = { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+        ISerializerDeserializer[] keyRecDescSers = { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
         RecordDescriptor keyRecDesc = new RecordDescriptor(keyRecDescSers);
 
         ConstantTupleSourceOperatorDescriptor keyProviderOp = new ConstantTupleSourceOperatorDescriptor(spec,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexInsertOperatorTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexInsertOperatorTest.java
index 97175f2..6ebc177 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexInsertOperatorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexInsertOperatorTest.java
@@ -64,14 +64,14 @@
 
         tb.reset();
         // low key
-        UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE.serialize("1998-07-21", dos);
+        new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer().serialize("1998-07-21", dos);
         tb.addFieldEndOffset();
         // high key
-        UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE.serialize("2000-10-18", dos);
+        new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer().serialize("2000-10-18", dos);
         tb.addFieldEndOffset();
 
-        ISerializerDeserializer[] keyRecDescSers = { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+        ISerializerDeserializer[] keyRecDescSers = { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
         RecordDescriptor keyRecDesc = new RecordDescriptor(keyRecDescSers);
 
         ConstantTupleSourceOperatorDescriptor keyProviderOp = new ConstantTupleSourceOperatorDescriptor(spec,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexSearchOperatorTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexSearchOperatorTest.java
index 11c060b..2bba010 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexSearchOperatorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexSearchOperatorTest.java
@@ -63,14 +63,14 @@
 
         tb.reset();
         // low key
-        UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE.serialize("1998-07-21", dos);
+        new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer().serialize("1998-07-21", dos);
         tb.addFieldEndOffset();
         // high key
-        UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE.serialize("2000-10-18", dos);
+        new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer().serialize("2000-10-18", dos);
         tb.addFieldEndOffset();
 
-        ISerializerDeserializer[] keyRecDescSers = { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+        ISerializerDeserializer[] keyRecDescSers = { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
         RecordDescriptor keyRecDesc = new RecordDescriptor(keyRecDescSers);
 
         ConstantTupleSourceOperatorDescriptor keyProviderOp = new ConstantTupleSourceOperatorDescriptor(spec,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexUpsertOperatorTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexUpsertOperatorTest.java
index 7abd14c..031ef76 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexUpsertOperatorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexUpsertOperatorTest.java
@@ -63,14 +63,14 @@
 
         tb.reset();
         // low key
-        UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE.serialize("1998-07-21", dos);
+        new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer().serialize("1998-07-21", dos);
         tb.addFieldEndOffset();
         // high key
-        UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE.serialize("2000-10-18", dos);
+        new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer().serialize("2000-10-18", dos);
         tb.addFieldEndOffset();
 
-        ISerializerDeserializer[] keyRecDescSers = { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+        ISerializerDeserializer[] keyRecDescSers = { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
         RecordDescriptor keyRecDesc = new RecordDescriptor(keyRecDescSers);
 
         ConstantTupleSourceOperatorDescriptor keyProviderOp = new ConstantTupleSourceOperatorDescriptor(spec,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeOperatorTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeOperatorTest.java
index 7100920..9381727 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeOperatorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeOperatorTest.java
@@ -100,9 +100,9 @@
     protected final IBinaryComparatorFactory[] primaryComparatorFactories = new IBinaryComparatorFactory[primaryKeyFieldCount];
 
     protected final RecordDescriptor primaryRecDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
             DoubleSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, DoubleSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
             DoubleSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, DoubleSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@
     protected final RecordDescriptor secondaryRecDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
             DoubleSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, DoubleSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
             DoubleSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, DoubleSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
     // This is only used for the LSMRTree. We need a comparator Factories for
     // the BTree component of the LSMRTree.
@@ -220,11 +220,11 @@
                 "data/orders-with-locations-part1.txt"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, DoubleSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), DoubleSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
                 DoubleSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, DoubleSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
                 DoubleSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
@@ -283,11 +283,11 @@
         DataOutput dos = tb.getDataOutput();
 
         tb.reset();
-        UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE.serialize("0", dos);
+        new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer().serialize("0", dos);
         tb.addFieldEndOffset();
 
-        ISerializerDeserializer[] keyRecDescSers = { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+        ISerializerDeserializer[] keyRecDescSers = { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
         RecordDescriptor keyRecDesc = new RecordDescriptor(keyRecDescSers);
 
         ConstantTupleSourceOperatorDescriptor keyProviderOp = new ConstantTupleSourceOperatorDescriptor(spec,
@@ -331,11 +331,11 @@
                 "data/orders-with-locations-part2.txt"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, DoubleSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), DoubleSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
                 DoubleSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, DoubleSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
                 DoubleSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/comm/SerializationDeserializationTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/comm/SerializationDeserializationTest.java
index 8baf9e0..41e63a0 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/comm/SerializationDeserializationTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/comm/SerializationDeserializationTest.java
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@
     @Test
     public void serdeser01() throws Exception {
         RecordDescriptor rDes = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
         LineProcessor processor = new LineProcessor() {
             @Override
             public void process(String line, IDataWriter<Object[]> writer) throws Exception {
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/AggregationTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/AggregationTest.java
index 2457ee9..c330f8e 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/AggregationTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/AggregationTest.java
@@ -77,14 +77,14 @@
             new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/lineitem.tbl"))) });
 
     final RecordDescriptor desc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
             IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
             IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
             FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
     final ITupleParserFactory tupleParserFactory = new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] {
             UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE, IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE, IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, csvScanner, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
         int[] keyFields = new int[] { 0 };
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, csvScanner, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
         int[] keyFields = new int[] { 0 };
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, csvScanner, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
         int[] keyFields = new int[] { 0 };
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, csvScanner, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
         int[] keyFields = new int[] { 0 };
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, csvScanner, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
         int[] keyFields = new int[] { 0 };
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, csvScanner, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
         int[] keyFields = new int[] { 0 };
@@ -381,8 +381,8 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, csvScanner, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         int[] keyFields = new int[] { 0 };
         int tableSize = 8;
@@ -425,8 +425,8 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, csvScanner, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         int[] keyFields = new int[] { 0 };
 
@@ -465,8 +465,8 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, csvScanner, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         int[] keyFields = new int[] { 0 };
         int frameLimits = 4;
@@ -513,7 +513,7 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, csvScanner, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
         int[] keyFields = new int[] { 8, 0 };
@@ -558,7 +558,7 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, csvScanner, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
         int[] keyFields = new int[] { 8, 0 };
@@ -599,7 +599,7 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, csvScanner, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
         int[] keyFields = new int[] { 8, 0 };
@@ -648,7 +648,7 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, csvScanner, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
                 FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
@@ -694,7 +694,7 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, csvScanner, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
                 FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
@@ -736,7 +736,7 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, csvScanner, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
                 FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
@@ -788,8 +788,8 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, csvScanner, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         int[] keyFields = new int[] { 8, 0 };
         int tableSize = 8;
@@ -833,8 +833,8 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, csvScanner, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         int[] keyFields = new int[] { 8, 0 };
 
@@ -874,8 +874,8 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, csvScanner, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         int[] keyFields = new int[] { 8, 0 };
         int frameLimits = 4;
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/CountOfCountsTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/CountOfCountsTest.java
index bb8627a..f3721e6 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/CountOfCountsTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/CountOfCountsTest.java
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@
         FileSplit[] splits = new FileSplit[] { new FileSplit(NC1_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/words.txt"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider splitProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(splits);
         RecordDescriptor desc = new RecordDescriptor(
-                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor csvScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(
                 spec,
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, sorter, NC1_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor desc2 = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
         PreclusteredGroupOperatorDescriptor group = new PreclusteredGroupOperatorDescriptor(spec, new int[] { 0 },
                 new IBinaryComparatorFactory[] { PointableBinaryComparatorFactory.of(UTF8StringPointable.FACTORY) },
                 new MultiFieldsAggregatorFactory(
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@
         FileSplit[] splits = new FileSplit[] { new FileSplit(NC1_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/words.txt"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider splitProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(splits);
         RecordDescriptor desc = new RecordDescriptor(
-                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor csvScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(
                 spec,
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, sorter, NC1_ID, NC2_ID, NC1_ID, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor desc2 = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
         PreclusteredGroupOperatorDescriptor group = new PreclusteredGroupOperatorDescriptor(spec, new int[] { 0 },
                 new IBinaryComparatorFactory[] { PointableBinaryComparatorFactory.of(UTF8StringPointable.FACTORY) },
                 new MultiFieldsAggregatorFactory(
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@
         FileSplit[] splits = new FileSplit[] { new FileSplit(NC1_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/words.txt"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider splitProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(splits);
         RecordDescriptor desc = new RecordDescriptor(
-                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor csvScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(
                 spec,
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, sorter, NC1_ID, NC2_ID, NC1_ID, NC2_ID);
 
         RecordDescriptor desc2 = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
         PreclusteredGroupOperatorDescriptor group = new PreclusteredGroupOperatorDescriptor(spec, new int[] { 0 },
                 new IBinaryComparatorFactory[] { PointableBinaryComparatorFactory.of(UTF8StringPointable.FACTORY) },
                 new MultiFieldsAggregatorFactory(
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/LocalityAwareConnectorTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/LocalityAwareConnectorTest.java
index f8fbfc6..55689e9 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/LocalityAwareConnectorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/LocalityAwareConnectorTest.java
@@ -73,14 +73,14 @@
             new FileSplit("asterix-004", new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/lineitem.tbl"))) });
 
     final RecordDescriptor desc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
             IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
             IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
             FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
     final ITupleParserFactory tupleParserFactory = new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] {
             UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE, IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE, IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@
                 "asterix-003", "asterix-004");
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
         int[] keyFields = new int[] { 0 };
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@
                 "asterix-003", "asterix-004");
 
         RecordDescriptor outputRec = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
         int[] keyFields = new int[] { 0 };
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/OptimizedSortMergeTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/OptimizedSortMergeTest.java
index 04194d8..c574ec8 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/OptimizedSortMergeTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/OptimizedSortMergeTest.java
@@ -63,11 +63,11 @@
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -120,11 +120,11 @@
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/ScanPrintTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/ScanPrintTest.java
index a7612e9..b19b47f 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/ScanPrintTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/ScanPrintTest.java
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@
                 new FileSplit(NC1_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/words.txt"))) });
 
         RecordDescriptor desc = new RecordDescriptor(
-                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor csvScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(
                 spec,
@@ -91,11 +91,11 @@
                 "data/tpch0.001/orders.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -131,10 +131,10 @@
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/SortMergeTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/SortMergeTest.java
index 40b1687..0902da2 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/SortMergeTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/SortMergeTest.java
@@ -61,11 +61,11 @@
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -109,11 +109,11 @@
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/SplitOperatorTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/SplitOperatorTest.java
index c104ec5..d1e9c7a 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/SplitOperatorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/SplitOperatorTest.java
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@
         DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory stringParser = new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(
                 new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE }, '\u0000');
         RecordDescriptor stringRec = new RecordDescriptor(
-                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, });
+                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor scanOp = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, new ConstantFileSplitProvider(
                 inputSplits), stringParser, stringRec);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/TPCHCustomerOptimizedHybridHashJoinTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/TPCHCustomerOptimizedHybridHashJoinTest.java
index 6fdc797..a10513a 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/TPCHCustomerOptimizedHybridHashJoinTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/TPCHCustomerOptimizedHybridHashJoinTest.java
@@ -59,32 +59,32 @@
                 "data/tpch0.001/customer4.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider custSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(custSplits);
         RecordDescriptor custDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileSplit[] ordersSplits = new FileSplit[] { new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File(
                 "data/tpch0.001/orders4.tbl"))) };
 
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         RecordDescriptor custOrderJoinDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -137,32 +137,32 @@
                 "data/tpch0.001/customer3.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider custSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(custSplits);
         RecordDescriptor custDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileSplit[] ordersSplits = new FileSplit[] { new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File(
                 "data/tpch0.001/orders4.tbl"))) };
 
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         RecordDescriptor custOrderJoinDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -216,32 +216,32 @@
                 "data/tpch0.001/customer3.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider custSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(custSplits);
         RecordDescriptor custDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileSplit[] ordersSplits = new FileSplit[] { new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File(
                 "data/tpch0.001/orders1.tbl"))) };
 
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         RecordDescriptor custOrderJoinDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/TPCHCustomerOrderHashJoinTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/TPCHCustomerOrderHashJoinTest.java
index a9cf4ad..7ee3682 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/TPCHCustomerOrderHashJoinTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/TPCHCustomerOrderHashJoinTest.java
@@ -78,31 +78,31 @@
                 "data/tpch0.001/customer.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider custSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(custSplits);
         RecordDescriptor custDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileSplit[] ordersSplits = new FileSplit[] { new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File(
                 "data/tpch0.001/orders.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         RecordDescriptor custOrderJoinDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -157,31 +157,31 @@
                 "data/tpch0.001/customer.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider custSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(custSplits);
         RecordDescriptor custDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileSplit[] ordersSplits = new FileSplit[] { new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File(
                 "data/tpch0.001/orders.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         RecordDescriptor custOrderJoinDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -240,31 +240,31 @@
                 "data/tpch0.001/customer.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider custSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(custSplits);
         RecordDescriptor custDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileSplit[] ordersSplits = new FileSplit[] { new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File(
                 "data/tpch0.001/orders.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         RecordDescriptor custOrderJoinDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -323,31 +323,31 @@
                 "data/tpch0.001/customer.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider custSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(custSplits);
         RecordDescriptor custDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileSplit[] ordersSplits = new FileSplit[] { new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File(
                 "data/tpch0.001/orders.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         RecordDescriptor custOrderJoinDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -407,31 +407,31 @@
                 "data/tpch0.001/customer.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider custSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(custSplits);
         RecordDescriptor custDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileSplit[] ordersSplits = new FileSplit[] { new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File(
                 "data/tpch0.001/orders.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         RecordDescriptor custOrderJoinDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -495,31 +495,31 @@
                 "data/tpch0.001/customer.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider custSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(custSplits);
         RecordDescriptor custDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileSplit[] ordersSplits = new FileSplit[] { new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File(
                 "data/tpch0.001/orders.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         RecordDescriptor custOrderJoinDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -584,32 +584,32 @@
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/customer-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider custSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(custSplits);
         RecordDescriptor custDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileSplit[] ordersSplits = new FileSplit[] {
                 new FileSplit(NC1_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part1.tbl"))),
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         RecordDescriptor custOrderJoinDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -671,32 +671,32 @@
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/customer-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider custSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(custSplits);
         RecordDescriptor custDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileSplit[] ordersSplits = new FileSplit[] {
                 new FileSplit(NC1_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part1.tbl"))),
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         RecordDescriptor custOrderJoinDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -762,32 +762,32 @@
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/customer-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider custSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(custSplits);
         RecordDescriptor custDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileSplit[] ordersSplits = new FileSplit[] {
                 new FileSplit(NC1_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part1.tbl"))),
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         RecordDescriptor custOrderJoinDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -853,32 +853,32 @@
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/customer-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider custSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(custSplits);
         RecordDescriptor custDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileSplit[] ordersSplits = new FileSplit[] {
                 new FileSplit(NC1_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part1.tbl"))),
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         RecordDescriptor custOrderJoinDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -940,32 +940,32 @@
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/customer-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider custSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(custSplits);
         RecordDescriptor custDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileSplit[] ordersSplits = new FileSplit[] {
                 new FileSplit(NC1_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part1.tbl"))),
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         RecordDescriptor custOrderJoinDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/TPCHCustomerOrderNestedLoopJoinTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/TPCHCustomerOrderNestedLoopJoinTest.java
index 039d936..985f974 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/TPCHCustomerOrderNestedLoopJoinTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/TPCHCustomerOrderNestedLoopJoinTest.java
@@ -132,31 +132,31 @@
                 "data/tpch0.001/customer.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider custSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(custSplits);
         RecordDescriptor custDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileSplit[] ordersSplits = new FileSplit[] { new FileSplit(NC1_ID, new FileReference(new File(
                 "data/tpch0.001/orders.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         RecordDescriptor custOrderJoinDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -208,32 +208,32 @@
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/customer-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider custSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(custSplits);
         RecordDescriptor custDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileSplit[] ordersSplits = new FileSplit[] {
                 new FileSplit(NC1_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part1.tbl"))),
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         RecordDescriptor custOrderJoinDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -285,32 +285,32 @@
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/customer-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider custSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(custSplits);
         RecordDescriptor custDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileSplit[] ordersSplits = new FileSplit[] {
                 new FileSplit(NC1_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part1.tbl"))),
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         RecordDescriptor custOrderJoinDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
@@ -362,32 +362,32 @@
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/customer-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider custSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(custSplits);
         RecordDescriptor custDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileSplit[] ordersSplits = new FileSplit[] {
                 new FileSplit(NC1_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part1.tbl"))),
                 new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/tpch0.001/orders-part2.tbl"))) };
         IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
         RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         RecordDescriptor custOrderJoinDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor ordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, ordersSplitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/UnionTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/UnionTest.java
index 57bfad0..508db7c 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/UnionTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/UnionTest.java
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
                 new FileSplit(NC1_ID, new FileReference(new File("data/words.txt"))) });
 
         RecordDescriptor desc = new RecordDescriptor(
-                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor csvScanner01 = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(
                 spec,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/VSizeFrameSortMergeTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/VSizeFrameSortMergeTest.java
index d019f16..b774e0e 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/VSizeFrameSortMergeTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/integration/VSizeFrameSortMergeTest.java
@@ -58,11 +58,11 @@
             new FileSplit(NC2_ID, new FileReference(new File(INPUTS[1]))) };
     IFileSplitProvider ordersSplitProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(ordersSplits);
     RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
     @Test
     public void sortNormalMergeTest() throws Exception {
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/unit/AbstractRunGeneratorTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/unit/AbstractRunGeneratorTest.java
index 1f339152..3cc2a23 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/unit/AbstractRunGeneratorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/unit/AbstractRunGeneratorTest.java
@@ -54,8 +54,8 @@
 
 public abstract class AbstractRunGeneratorTest {
     static TestUtils testUtils = new TestUtils();
-    static ISerializerDeserializer[] SerDers = new ISerializerDeserializer[] { IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+    static ISerializerDeserializer[] SerDers = new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
+            IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
     static RecordDescriptor RecordDesc = new RecordDescriptor(SerDers);
     static Random GRandom = new Random(System.currentTimeMillis());
     static int[] SortFields = new int[] { 0, 1 };
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@
             for (Map.Entry<Integer, String> entry : specialData.entrySet()) {
                 tb.reset();
                 tb.addField(IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, entry.getKey());
-                tb.addField(UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, entry.getValue());
+                tb.addField(new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), entry.getValue());
 
                 VSizeFrame frame = new VSizeFrame(ctx, FrameHelper.calcAlignedFrameSizeToStore(
                         tb.getFieldEndOffsets().length, tb.getSize(), ctx.getInitialFrameSize()));
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@
             if (!keyValuePair.containsKey(key)) {
                 String value = generateRandomRecord(minRecordSize, maxRecordSize);
                 tb.addField(IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, key);
-                tb.addField(UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, value);
+                tb.addField(new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), value);
 
                 if (!appender.append(tb.getFieldEndOffsets(), tb.getByteArray(), 0, tb.getSize())) {
                     frameList.add(frame);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/unit/RunMergingFrameReaderTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/unit/RunMergingFrameReaderTest.java
index ca0a6bb..e6d10f2 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/unit/RunMergingFrameReaderTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/unit/RunMergingFrameReaderTest.java
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@
             while (true) {
                 tb.reset();
                 tb.addField(IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, lastEntry.getKey());
-                tb.addField(UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, lastEntry.getValue());
+                tb.addField(new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), lastEntry.getValue());
                 if (!appender.append(tb.getFieldEndOffsets(), tb.getByteArray(), 0, tb.getSize())) {
                     break;
                 } else {
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@
             for (Map.Entry<Integer, String> entry : specialData.entrySet()) {
                 tb.reset();
                 tb.addField(IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, entry.getKey());
-                tb.addField(UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, entry.getValue());
+                tb.addField(new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), entry.getValue());
                 int size = tb.getSize() + tb.getFieldEndOffsets().length * 4;
                 datasize += size;
                 if (size > maxtuple) {
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@
             int key = GRandom.nextInt(datasize + 1);
             if (!result.containsKey(key)) {
                 tb.addField(IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, key);
-                tb.addField(UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, value);
+                tb.addField(new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), value);
                 int size = tb.getSize() + tb.getFieldEndOffsets().length * 4;
                 datasize += size;
                 if (size > maxtuple) {
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/text-example/textclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/text/client/ExternalGroupClient.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/text-example/textclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/text/client/ExternalGroupClient.java
index 3f9b0e9..965e194 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/text-example/textclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/text/client/ExternalGroupClient.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/text-example/textclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/text/client/ExternalGroupClient.java
@@ -168,10 +168,10 @@
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
                 FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, FloatSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor fileScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, splitsProvider,
                 new DelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(new IValueParserFactory[] { IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/text-example/textclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/text/client/WordCountMain.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/text-example/textclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/text/client/WordCountMain.java
index a3e1ee0..cb6006b 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/text-example/textclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/text/client/WordCountMain.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/text-example/textclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/text/client/WordCountMain.java
@@ -132,14 +132,14 @@
 
         IFileSplitProvider splitsProvider = new ConstantFileSplitProvider(inSplits);
         RecordDescriptor wordDesc = new RecordDescriptor(
-                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         FileScanOperatorDescriptor wordScanner = new FileScanOperatorDescriptor(spec, splitsProvider,
                 new WordTupleParserFactory(), wordDesc);
         createPartitionConstraint(spec, wordScanner, inSplits);
 
         RecordDescriptor groupResultDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
         IOperatorDescriptor gBy;
         int[] keys = new int[] { 0 };
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/tpch-example/tpchclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/tpch/client/Common.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/tpch-example/tpchclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/tpch/client/Common.java
index 28b62a7..ac172fd 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/tpch-example/tpchclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/tpch/client/Common.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/tpch-example/tpchclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/tpch/client/Common.java
@@ -34,27 +34,27 @@
 
 public class Common {
     static RecordDescriptor custDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
     static RecordDescriptor ordersDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
     static RecordDescriptor custOrderJoinDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+            new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
     static IValueParserFactory[] orderParserFactories = new IValueParserFactory[] { UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
                         UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE, UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/tpch-example/tpchclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/tpch/client/Join.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/tpch-example/tpchclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/tpch/client/Join.java
index dadb935..b20d2b8 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/tpch-example/tpchclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/tpch/client/Join.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/tpch-example/tpchclient/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/examples/tpch/client/Join.java
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@
         if (hasGroupBy) {
 
             RecordDescriptor groupResultDesc = new RecordDescriptor(new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                    UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                    new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
 
             HashGroupOperatorDescriptor gby = new HashGroupOperatorDescriptor(
                     spec,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/hdfs/dataflow/DataflowTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/hdfs/dataflow/DataflowTest.java
index e36dd06..1515037 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/hdfs/dataflow/DataflowTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/hdfs/dataflow/DataflowTest.java
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@
         String[] readSchedule = scheduler.getLocationConstraints(splits);
         JobSpecification jobSpec = new JobSpecification();
         RecordDescriptor recordDesc = new RecordDescriptor(
-                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         String[] locations = new String[] { HyracksUtils.NC1_ID, HyracksUtils.NC1_ID, HyracksUtils.NC2_ID,
                 HyracksUtils.NC2_ID };
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/hdfs2/dataflow/DataflowTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/hdfs2/dataflow/DataflowTest.java
index a703e57..0b41b07 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/hdfs2/dataflow/DataflowTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/hdfs2/dataflow/DataflowTest.java
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@
         String[] readSchedule = scheduler.getLocationConstraints(splits);
         JobSpecification jobSpec = new JobSpecification();
         RecordDescriptor recordDesc = new RecordDescriptor(
-                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+                new ISerializerDeserializer[] { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
         String[] locations = new String[] { HyracksUtils.NC1_ID, HyracksUtils.NC1_ID, HyracksUtils.NC2_ID,
                 HyracksUtils.NC2_ID };
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/pom.xml b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/pom.xml
index 727da41..86b0eac 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/pom.xml
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/pom.xml
@@ -68,5 +68,10 @@
   		<type>jar</type>
   		<scope>compile</scope>
   	</dependency>
+    <dependency>
+         <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+         <artifactId>hyracks-util</artifactId>
+         <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    </dependency>
   </dependencies>
 </project>
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/TreeIndexStatsOperatorDescriptor.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/TreeIndexStatsOperatorDescriptor.java
index c99b1e5..554cd3f 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/TreeIndexStatsOperatorDescriptor.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/TreeIndexStatsOperatorDescriptor.java
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
 
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
     private static final RecordDescriptor recDesc = new RecordDescriptor(
-            new ISerializerDeserializer[] { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+            new ISerializerDeserializer[] { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
     public TreeIndexStatsOperatorDescriptor(IOperatorDescriptorRegistry spec, IStorageManagerInterface storageManager,
             IIndexLifecycleManagerProvider lifecycleManagerProvider, IFileSplitProvider fileSplitProvider,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/TreeIndexStatsOperatorNodePushable.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/TreeIndexStatsOperatorNodePushable.java
index 51ca3c2..584418c 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/TreeIndexStatsOperatorNodePushable.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/TreeIndexStatsOperatorNodePushable.java
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
     private final AbstractTreeIndexOperatorDescriptor opDesc;
     private final IHyracksTaskContext ctx;
     private final TreeIndexDataflowHelper treeIndexHelper;
+    private final UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer utf8SerDer = new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer();
     private TreeIndexStatsGatherer statsGatherer;
 
     public TreeIndexStatsOperatorNodePushable(AbstractTreeIndexOperatorDescriptor opDesc, IHyracksTaskContext ctx,
@@ -77,7 +78,7 @@
             ArrayTupleBuilder tb = new ArrayTupleBuilder(1);
             DataOutput dos = tb.getDataOutput();
             tb.reset();
-            UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE.serialize(stats.toString(), dos);
+            utf8SerDer.serialize(stats.toString(), dos);
             tb.addFieldEndOffset();
             if (!appender.append(tb.getFieldEndOffsets(), tb.getByteArray(), 0, tb.getSize())) {
                 throw new HyracksDataException(
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleReference.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleReference.java
index 1a17a5a..c6a0035 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleReference.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleReference.java
@@ -19,11 +19,14 @@
 
 package org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.tuples;
 
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.VarLenIntDecoder;
+
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexFrame;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexTupleReference;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder;
 
 public class TypeAwareTupleReference implements ITreeIndexTupleReference {
     protected ByteBuffer buf;
@@ -34,7 +37,7 @@
     protected int dataStartOff;
 
     protected ITypeTraits[] typeTraits;
-    protected VarLenIntEncoderDecoder encDec = new VarLenIntEncoderDecoder();
+    protected VarLenIntDecoder encDec = VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.createDecoder();
     protected int[] decodedFieldSlots;
 
     public TypeAwareTupleReference(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits) {
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleWriter.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleWriter.java
index 73e6e3e..c44cb6b 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleWriter.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleWriter.java
@@ -25,11 +25,12 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.ITupleReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexTupleReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexTupleWriter;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder;
 
 public class TypeAwareTupleWriter implements ITreeIndexTupleWriter {
 
     protected ITypeTraits[] typeTraits;
-    protected VarLenIntEncoderDecoder encDec = new VarLenIntEncoderDecoder();
+    protected VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.VarLenIntDecoder decoder = VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.createDecoder();
 
     public TypeAwareTupleWriter(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits) {
         this.typeTraits = typeTraits;
@@ -73,13 +74,11 @@
         }
 
         // write field slots for variable length fields
-        encDec.reset(targetBuf, runner);
         for (int i = 0; i < tuple.getFieldCount(); i++) {
             if (!typeTraits[i].isFixedLength()) {
-                encDec.encode(tuple.getFieldLength(i));
+                runner += VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.encode(tuple.getFieldLength(i), targetBuf, runner);
             }
         }
-        runner = encDec.getPos();
 
         // write data fields
         for (int i = 0; i < tuple.getFieldCount(); i++) {
@@ -100,13 +99,11 @@
         }
 
         // write field slots for variable length fields
-        encDec.reset(targetBuf, runner);
         for (int i = startField; i < startField + numFields; i++) {
             if (!typeTraits[i].isFixedLength()) {
-                encDec.encode(tuple.getFieldLength(i));
+                runner += VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.encode(tuple.getFieldLength(i), targetBuf, runner);
             }
         }
-        runner = encDec.getPos();
 
         for (int i = startField; i < startField + numFields; i++) {
             System.arraycopy(tuple.getFieldData(i), tuple.getFieldStart(i), targetBuf, runner, tuple.getFieldLength(i));
@@ -124,7 +121,7 @@
         int fieldSlotBytes = 0;
         for (int i = 0; i < tuple.getFieldCount(); i++) {
             if (!typeTraits[i].isFixedLength()) {
-                fieldSlotBytes += encDec.getBytesRequired(tuple.getFieldLength(i));
+                fieldSlotBytes += VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.getBytesRequired(tuple.getFieldLength(i));
             }
         }
         return fieldSlotBytes;
@@ -138,7 +135,7 @@
         int fieldSlotBytes = 0;
         for (int i = startField; i < startField + numFields; i++) {
             if (!typeTraits[i].isFixedLength()) {
-                fieldSlotBytes += encDec.getBytesRequired(tuple.getFieldLength(i));
+                fieldSlotBytes += VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.getBytesRequired(tuple.getFieldLength(i));
             }
         }
         return fieldSlotBytes;
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.java
deleted file mode 100644
index cd3d366..0000000
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,92 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
- * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
- * distributed with this work for additional information
- * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
- * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
- * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
- * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
- * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
- * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
- * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
- * specific language governing permissions and limitations
- * under the License.
- */
-
-package org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.tuples;
-
-// encodes positive integers in a variable-byte format
-
-public class VarLenIntEncoderDecoder {
-	public static final int ENCODE_MASK = 0x0000007F;
-	public static final byte CONTINUE_CHUNK = (byte) 0x80;
-	public static final byte DECODE_MASK = (byte) 0x7F;
-
-	private byte[] encTmp = new byte[5];
-
-	private int pos;
-	private byte[] bytes;
-
-	public void reset(byte[] bytes, int pos) {
-		this.bytes = bytes;
-		this.pos = pos;
-	}
-
-	public int encode(int val) {
-		int origPos = 0;
-		int tmpPos = 0;
-		while (val > ENCODE_MASK) {
-			encTmp[tmpPos++] = (byte) (val & ENCODE_MASK);
-			val = val >>> 7;
-		}
-		encTmp[tmpPos++] = (byte) (val);
-
-		// reverse order to optimize for decoding speed
-		for (int i = 0; i < tmpPos - 1; i++) {
-			bytes[pos++] = (byte) (encTmp[tmpPos - 1 - i] | CONTINUE_CHUNK);
-		}
-		bytes[pos++] = encTmp[0];
-
-		return pos - origPos;
-	}
-
-	public int decode() {
-		int sum = 0;
-		while ((bytes[pos] & CONTINUE_CHUNK) == CONTINUE_CHUNK) {
-			sum = (sum + (bytes[pos] & DECODE_MASK)) << 7;
-			pos++;
-		}
-		sum += bytes[pos++];
-		return sum;
-	}
-
-	// calculate the number of bytes needed for encoding
-	public int getBytesRequired(int val) {
-		int byteCount = 0;
-		while (val > ENCODE_MASK) {
-			val = val >>> 7;
-			byteCount++;
-		}
-		return byteCount + 1;
-	}
-
-	public int getPos() {
-		return pos;
-	}
-
-	// fast encoding, slow decoding version
-	/*
-	 * public void encode(int val) { while(val > ENCODE_MASK) { bytes[pos++] =
-	 * (byte)(((byte)(val & ENCODE_MASK)) | CONTINUE_CHUNK); val = val >>> 7; }
-	 * bytes[pos++] = (byte)(val); }
-	 * 
-	 * public int decode() { int sum = 0; int shift = 0; while( (bytes[pos] &
-	 * CONTINUE_CHUNK) == CONTINUE_CHUNK) { sum = (sum + (bytes[pos] &
-	 * DECODE_MASK)) << 7 * shift++; pos++; } sum += bytes[pos++] << 7 * shift;
-	 * return sum; }
-	 */
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/pom.xml b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/pom.xml
index af70253..dc5282e 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/pom.xml
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/pom.xml
@@ -17,41 +17,46 @@
  ! under the License.
  !-->
 
-<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
-	<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
-	<artifactId>hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex</artifactId>
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+    <artifactId>hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex</artifactId>
 
-	<parent>
-		<artifactId>hyracks</artifactId>
-		<groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
-		<version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
-		<relativePath>..</relativePath>
-	</parent>
+    <parent>
+        <artifactId>hyracks</artifactId>
+        <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+        <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        <relativePath>..</relativePath>
+    </parent>
 
-  <licenses>
-    <license>
-      <name>Apache License, Version 2.0</name>
-      <url>http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.txt</url>
-      <distribution>repo</distribution>
-      <comments>A business-friendly OSS license</comments>
-    </license>
-  </licenses>
+    <licenses>
+        <license>
+            <name>Apache License, Version 2.0</name>
+            <url>http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.txt</url>
+            <distribution>repo</distribution>
+            <comments>A business-friendly OSS license</comments>
+        </license>
+    </licenses>
 
-
-	<dependencies>
-		<dependency>
-			<groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
-			<artifactId>hyracks-storage-am-btree</artifactId>
-			<version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
-			<type>jar</type>
-			<scope>compile</scope>
-		</dependency>
-		<dependency>
-			<groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
-			<artifactId>hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common</artifactId>
-			<version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
-			<type>jar</type>
-			<scope>compile</scope>
-	    </dependency>
-	</dependencies>
+    <dependencies>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+            <artifactId>hyracks-util</artifactId>
+            <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+            <artifactId>hyracks-storage-am-btree</artifactId>
+            <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+            <type>jar</type>
+            <scope>compile</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+            <artifactId>hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common</artifactId>
+            <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+            <type>jar</type>
+            <scope>compile</scope>
+        </dependency>
+    </dependencies>
 </project>
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/AbstractTOccurrenceSearcher.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/AbstractTOccurrenceSearcher.java
index f536a67..7d34198 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/AbstractTOccurrenceSearcher.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/AbstractTOccurrenceSearcher.java
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
 
 public abstract class AbstractTOccurrenceSearcher implements IInvertedIndexSearcher {
     protected static final RecordDescriptor QUERY_TOKEN_REC_DESC = new RecordDescriptor(
-            new ISerializerDeserializer[] { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE });
+            new ISerializerDeserializer[] { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() });
 
     protected final int OBJECT_CACHE_INIT_SIZE = 10;
     protected final int OBJECT_CACHE_EXPAND_SIZE = 10;
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/AbstractUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/AbstractUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer.java
index 1460857..9d4446f 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/AbstractUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/AbstractUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer.java
@@ -19,19 +19,16 @@
 
 package org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.tokenizers;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
 
 public abstract class AbstractUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer implements IBinaryTokenizer {
 
-    protected byte[] data;
-    protected int start;
-    protected int length;
-    protected int tokenLength;
-    protected int index;
-    protected int originalIndex;
-    protected int utf8Length;
-    protected boolean tokenCountCalculated = false;
-    protected short tokenCount;
+    protected byte[] sentenceBytes;
+    protected int sentenceStartOffset;
+    protected int sentenceEndOffset;
+    protected int sentenceUtf8Length;
+
+    protected int byteIndex;
 
     protected final IntArray tokensStart;
     protected final IntArray tokensLength;
@@ -59,27 +56,27 @@
         return token;
     }
 
+    //TODO: This UTF8Tokenizer strongly relies on the Asterix data format,
+    // i.e. the TypeTag and the byteIndex increasing both assume the given byte[] sentence
+    // is an AString object. A better way (if we want to keep the byte[] interface) would be
+    // giving this tokenizer the pure UTF8 character sequence whose {@code start} is the start
+    // of the first character, and move the shift offset to the caller.
     @Override
-    public void reset(byte[] data, int start, int length) {
-        this.start = start;
-        index = this.start;
-        if (sourceHasTypeTag) {
-            index++; // skip type tag
-        }
-        utf8Length = UTF8StringPointable.getUTFLength(data, index);
-        index += 2; // skip utf8 length indicator
-        this.data = data;
-        this.length = length + start;
+    public void reset(byte[] sentenceData, int start, int length) {
+        this.sentenceBytes = sentenceData;
+        this.sentenceStartOffset = start;
+        this.sentenceEndOffset = length + start;
 
-        tokenLength = 0;
+        byteIndex = this.sentenceStartOffset;
+        if (sourceHasTypeTag) {
+            byteIndex++; // skip type tag
+        }
+        sentenceUtf8Length = UTF8StringUtil.getUTFLength(sentenceData, byteIndex);
+        byteIndex += UTF8StringUtil.getNumBytesToStoreLength(sentenceUtf8Length); // skip utf8 length indicator
+
         if (!ignoreTokenCount) {
             tokensStart.reset();
             tokensLength.reset();
         }
-
-        // Needed for calculating the number of tokens
-        originalIndex = index;
-        tokenCountCalculated = false;
-        tokenCount = 0;
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/AbstractUTF8Token.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/AbstractUTF8Token.java
index 7aeb6fa..9613fb9 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/AbstractUTF8Token.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/AbstractUTF8Token.java
@@ -21,17 +21,18 @@
 import java.io.DataOutput;
 import java.io.IOException;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.GrowableArray;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.UTF8StringBuilder;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
 
 public abstract class AbstractUTF8Token implements IToken {
     public static final int GOLDEN_RATIO_32 = 0x09e3779b9;
 
-    protected int length;
-    protected int tokenLength;
-    protected int start;
-    protected int tokenCount;
     protected byte[] data;
+    protected int startOffset;
+    protected int endOffset;
+    protected int tokenLength;
+    protected int tokenCount;
     protected final byte tokenTypeTag;
     protected final byte countTypeTag;
 
@@ -51,24 +52,24 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public int getLength() {
-        return length;
+    public int getEndOffset() {
+        return endOffset;
     }
 
-    public int getLowerCaseUTF8Len(int size) {
+    public int getLowerCaseUTF8Len(int limit) {
         int lowerCaseUTF8Len = 0;
-        int pos = start;
-        for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
-            char c = Character.toLowerCase(UTF8StringPointable.charAt(data, pos));
-            lowerCaseUTF8Len += UTF8StringPointable.getModifiedUTF8Len(c);
-            pos += UTF8StringPointable.charSize(data, pos);
+        int pos = startOffset;
+        for (int i = 0; i < limit; i++) {
+            char c = Character.toLowerCase(UTF8StringUtil.charAt(data, pos));
+            lowerCaseUTF8Len += UTF8StringUtil.getModifiedUTF8Len(c);
+            pos += UTF8StringUtil.charSize(data, pos);
         }
         return lowerCaseUTF8Len;
     }
 
     @Override
-    public int getStart() {
-        return start;
+    public int getStartOffset() {
+        return startOffset;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -88,11 +89,20 @@
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Note: the {@code startOffset} is the offset of first character, not the string length offset
+     *
+     * @param data
+     * @param startOffset
+     * @param endOffset
+     * @param tokenLength
+     * @param tokenCount  the count of this token in a document , or a record, or something else.
+     */
     @Override
-    public void reset(byte[] data, int start, int length, int tokenLength, int tokenCount) {
+    public void reset(byte[] data, int startOffset, int endOffset, int tokenLength, int tokenCount) {
         this.data = data;
-        this.start = start;
-        this.length = length;
+        this.startOffset = startOffset;
+        this.endOffset = endOffset;
         this.tokenLength = tokenLength;
         this.tokenCount = tokenCount;
     }
@@ -102,4 +112,38 @@
         handleCountTypeTag(out.getDataOutput());
         out.getDataOutput().writeInt(tokenCount);
     }
+
+    // The preChar and postChar are required to be a single byte utf8 char, e.g. ASCII char.
+    protected void serializeToken(UTF8StringBuilder builder, GrowableArray out, int numPreChars, int numPostChars,
+            char preChar, char postChar)
+            throws IOException {
+
+        handleTokenTypeTag(out.getDataOutput());
+
+        assert UTF8StringUtil.getModifiedUTF8Len(preChar) == 1 && UTF8StringUtil.getModifiedUTF8Len(postChar) == 1;
+        int actualUtfLen = endOffset - startOffset;
+
+        builder.reset(out, actualUtfLen + numPreChars + numPostChars);
+        // pre chars
+        for (int i = 0; i < numPreChars; i++) {
+            builder.appendChar(preChar);
+        }
+
+        /// regular chars
+        int numRegChars = tokenLength - numPreChars - numPostChars;
+        int pos = startOffset;
+        for (int i = 0; i < numRegChars; i++) {
+            char c = Character.toLowerCase(UTF8StringUtil.charAt(data, pos));
+            builder.appendChar(c);
+            pos += UTF8StringUtil.charSize(data, pos);
+        }
+
+        // post chars
+        for (int i = 0; i < numPostChars; i++) {
+            builder.appendChar(postChar);
+        }
+
+        builder.finish();
+    }
+
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/DelimitedUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/DelimitedUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer.java
index ddf3a43..f6d6be4 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/DelimitedUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/DelimitedUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer.java
@@ -19,54 +19,66 @@
 
 package org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.tokenizers;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
 
 public class DelimitedUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer extends AbstractUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer {
 
+    protected short tokenCount;
+    private boolean tokenCountCalculated;
+    private int originalIndex;
+
     public DelimitedUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer(boolean ignoreTokenCount, boolean sourceHasTypeTag,
             ITokenFactory tokenFactory) {
         super(ignoreTokenCount, sourceHasTypeTag, tokenFactory);
     }
 
     @Override
-    public boolean hasNext() {
-        // skip delimiters
-        while (index < length && isSeparator(UTF8StringPointable.charAt(data, index))) {
-            index += UTF8StringPointable.charSize(data, index);
-        }
-        return index < length;
+    public void reset(byte[] sentenceData, int start, int length) {
+        super.reset(sentenceData, start, length);
+        // Needed for calculating the number of tokens
+        tokenCount = 0;
+        tokenCountCalculated = false;
+        originalIndex = byteIndex;
     }
 
-    private boolean isSeparator(char c) {
-        return !(Character.isLetterOrDigit(c) || Character.getType(c) == Character.OTHER_LETTER || Character.getType(c) == Character.OTHER_NUMBER);
+    @Override
+    public boolean hasNext() {
+        // skip delimiters
+        while (byteIndex < sentenceEndOffset && isSeparator(UTF8StringUtil.charAt(sentenceBytes, byteIndex))) {
+            byteIndex += UTF8StringUtil.charSize(sentenceBytes, byteIndex);
+        }
+        return byteIndex < sentenceEndOffset;
+    }
+
+    private static boolean isSeparator(char c) {
+        return !(Character.isLetterOrDigit(c) || Character.getType(c) == Character.OTHER_LETTER
+                || Character.getType(c) == Character.OTHER_NUMBER);
     }
 
     @Override
     public void next() {
-        tokenLength = 0;
-        int currentTokenStart = index;
-        while (index < length && !isSeparator(UTF8StringPointable.charAt(data, index))) {
-            index += UTF8StringPointable.charSize(data, index);
+        int tokenLength = 0;
+        int currentTokenStart = byteIndex;
+        while (byteIndex < sentenceEndOffset && !isSeparator(UTF8StringUtil.charAt(sentenceBytes, byteIndex))) {
+            byteIndex += UTF8StringUtil.charSize(sentenceBytes, byteIndex);
             tokenLength++;
         }
-        int tokenCount = 1;
+        int curTokenCount = 1;
         if (tokenLength > 0 && !ignoreTokenCount) {
             // search if we got the same token before
             for (int i = 0; i < tokensStart.length(); ++i) {
                 if (tokenLength == tokensLength.get(i)) {
                     int tokenStart = tokensStart.get(i);
-                    tokenCount++; // assume we found it
+                    curTokenCount++; // assume we found it
                     int offset = 0;
-                    int currLength = 0;
-                    while (currLength < tokenLength) {
+                    for (int charPos= 0; charPos < tokenLength; charPos++) {
                         // case insensitive comparison
-                        if (Character.toLowerCase(UTF8StringPointable.charAt(data, currentTokenStart + offset)) != Character
-                                .toLowerCase(UTF8StringPointable.charAt(data, tokenStart + offset))) {
-                            tokenCount--;
+                        if (Character.toLowerCase(UTF8StringUtil.charAt(sentenceBytes, currentTokenStart + offset))
+                                != Character.toLowerCase(UTF8StringUtil.charAt(sentenceBytes, tokenStart + offset))) {
+                            curTokenCount--;
                             break;
                         }
-                        offset += UTF8StringPointable.charSize(data, currentTokenStart + offset);
-                        currLength++;
+                        offset += UTF8StringUtil.charSize(sentenceBytes, currentTokenStart + offset);
                     }
                 }
             }
@@ -76,16 +88,19 @@
         }
 
         // set token
-        token.reset(data, currentTokenStart, index, tokenLength, tokenCount);
+        token.reset(sentenceBytes, currentTokenStart, byteIndex, tokenLength, curTokenCount);
+        tokenCount++;
     }
 
+
+    // TODO Why we bother to get the tokenCount in advance? It seems a caller's problem.
     @Override
     public short getTokensCount() {
         if (!tokenCountCalculated) {
             tokenCount = 0;
             boolean previousCharIsSeparator = true;
-            while (originalIndex < length) {
-                if (isSeparator(UTF8StringPointable.charAt(data, originalIndex))) {
+            while (originalIndex < sentenceEndOffset) {
+                if (isSeparator(UTF8StringUtil.charAt(sentenceBytes, originalIndex))) {
                     previousCharIsSeparator = true;
                 } else {
                     if (previousCharIsSeparator) {
@@ -93,7 +108,7 @@
                         previousCharIsSeparator = false;
                     }
                 }
-                originalIndex += UTF8StringPointable.charSize(data, originalIndex);
+                originalIndex += UTF8StringUtil.charSize(sentenceBytes, originalIndex);
             }
         }
         return tokenCount;
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/HashedUTF8NGramToken.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/HashedUTF8NGramToken.java
index 43ee3c0..8ffd355 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/HashedUTF8NGramToken.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/HashedUTF8NGramToken.java
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.GrowableArray;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
 
 public class HashedUTF8NGramToken extends UTF8NGramToken {
     public HashedUTF8NGramToken(byte tokenTypeTag, byte countTypeTag) {
@@ -43,11 +43,11 @@
 
         // regular chars
         int numRegGrams = tokenLength - numPreChars - numPostChars;
-        int pos = start;
+        int pos = startOffset;
         for (int i = 0; i < numRegGrams; i++) {
-            hash ^= Character.toLowerCase(UTF8StringPointable.charAt(data, pos));
+            hash ^= Character.toLowerCase(UTF8StringUtil.charAt(data, pos));
             hash *= GOLDEN_RATIO_32;
-            pos += UTF8StringPointable.charSize(data, pos);
+            pos += UTF8StringUtil.charSize(data, pos);
         }
 
         // post chars
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/HashedUTF8WordToken.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/HashedUTF8WordToken.java
index 18f958d..150ffd6 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/HashedUTF8WordToken.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/HashedUTF8WordToken.java
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.GrowableArray;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
 
 public class HashedUTF8WordToken extends UTF8WordToken {
 
@@ -46,11 +46,11 @@
         }
         int offset = 0;
         for (int i = 0; i < tokenLength; i++) {
-            if (UTF8StringPointable.charAt(t.getData(), t.getStart() + offset) != UTF8StringPointable.charAt(data,
-                    start + offset)) {
+            if (UTF8StringUtil.charAt(t.getData(), t.getStartOffset() + offset) != UTF8StringUtil.charAt(data,
+                    startOffset + offset)) {
                 return false;
             }
-            offset += UTF8StringPointable.charSize(data, start + offset);
+            offset += UTF8StringUtil.charSize(data, startOffset + offset);
         }
         return true;
     }
@@ -61,16 +61,16 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public void reset(byte[] data, int start, int length, int tokenLength, int tokenCount) {
-        super.reset(data, start, length, tokenLength, tokenCount);
+    public void reset(byte[] data, int startOffset, int endOffset, int tokenLength, int tokenCount) {
+        super.reset(data, startOffset, endOffset, tokenLength, tokenCount);
 
         // pre-compute hash value using JAQL-like string hashing
-        int pos = start;
+        int pos = startOffset;
         hash = GOLDEN_RATIO_32;
         for (int i = 0; i < tokenLength; i++) {
-            hash ^= Character.toLowerCase(UTF8StringPointable.charAt(data, pos));
+            hash ^= Character.toLowerCase(UTF8StringUtil.charAt(data, pos));
             hash *= GOLDEN_RATIO_32;
-            pos += UTF8StringPointable.charSize(data, pos);
+            pos += UTF8StringUtil.charSize(data, pos);
         }
         hash += tokenCount;
     }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/IToken.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/IToken.java
index d48af44..cb1b098 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/IToken.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/IToken.java
@@ -24,18 +24,26 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.GrowableArray;
 
 public interface IToken {
-	public byte[] getData();
+    public byte[] getData();
 
-	public int getLength();
+    public int getEndOffset();
 
-	public int getStart();
+    public int getStartOffset();
 
-	public int getTokenLength();
+    public int getTokenLength();
 
-	public void reset(byte[] data, int start, int length, int tokenLength,
-			int tokenCount);
+    /**
+     * reset the storage byte array.
+     *
+     * @param data
+     * @param startOffset
+     * @param endOffset
+     * @param tokenLength
+     * @param tokenCount  the count of this token in a document , or a record, or something else.
+     */
+    public void reset(byte[] data, int startOffset, int endOffset, int tokenLength, int tokenCount);
 
-	public void serializeToken(GrowableArray out) throws IOException;
+    public void serializeToken(GrowableArray out) throws IOException;
 
-	public void serializeTokenCount(GrowableArray out) throws IOException;
+    public void serializeTokenCount(GrowableArray out) throws IOException;
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/NGramUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/NGramUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer.java
index def7ad2..9161a54 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/NGramUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/NGramUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer.java
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 
 package org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.tokenizers;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
 
 public class NGramUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer extends AbstractUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer {
 
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
 
     @Override
     public void next() {
-        int currentTokenStart = index;
+        int currentTokenStart = byteIndex;
         int tokenCount = 1;
         int numPreChars = 0;
         int numPostChars = 0;
@@ -62,46 +62,48 @@
 
         concreteToken.setNumPrePostChars(numPreChars, numPostChars);
         if (numPreChars == 0) {
-            index += UTF8StringPointable.charSize(data, index);
+            byteIndex += UTF8StringUtil.charSize(sentenceBytes, byteIndex);
         }
 
         // compute token count
         // ignore pre and post grams for duplicate detection
         if (!ignoreTokenCount && numPreChars == 0 && numPostChars == 0) {
-            int tmpIndex = start + 2; // skip utf8 length indicator
+            int tmpIndex = sentenceStartOffset;
             if (sourceHasTypeTag) {
                 tmpIndex++; // skip type tag
             }
+            int utfLength = UTF8StringUtil.getUTFLength(sentenceBytes, tmpIndex);
+            tmpIndex += UTF8StringUtil.getNumBytesToStoreLength(utfLength); // skip utf8 length indicator
             while (tmpIndex < currentTokenStart) {
                 tokenCount++; // assume found
                 int offset = 0;
                 for (int j = 0; j < gramLength; j++) {
-                    if (Character.toLowerCase(UTF8StringPointable.charAt(data, currentTokenStart + offset)) != Character
-                            .toLowerCase(UTF8StringPointable.charAt(data, tmpIndex + offset))) {
+                    if (Character.toLowerCase(UTF8StringUtil.charAt(sentenceBytes, currentTokenStart + offset))
+                            != Character.toLowerCase(UTF8StringUtil.charAt(sentenceBytes, tmpIndex + offset))) {
                         tokenCount--;
                         break;
                     }
-                    offset += UTF8StringPointable.charSize(data, tmpIndex + offset);
+                    offset += UTF8StringUtil.charSize(sentenceBytes, tmpIndex + offset);
                 }
-                tmpIndex += UTF8StringPointable.charSize(data, tmpIndex);
+                tmpIndex += UTF8StringUtil.charSize(sentenceBytes, tmpIndex);
             }
         }
 
         // set token
-        token.reset(data, currentTokenStart, length, gramLength, tokenCount);
+        token.reset(sentenceBytes, currentTokenStart, sentenceEndOffset, gramLength, tokenCount);
     }
 
     @Override
-    public void reset(byte[] data, int start, int length) {
-        super.reset(data, start, length);
+    public void reset(byte[] sentenceData, int start, int length) {
+        super.reset(sentenceData, start, length);
         gramNum = 0;
 
         int numChars = 0;
-        int pos = index;
-        int end = pos + utf8Length;
+        int pos = byteIndex;
+        int end = pos + sentenceUtf8Length;
         while (pos < end) {
             numChars++;
-            pos += UTF8StringPointable.charSize(data, pos);
+            pos += UTF8StringUtil.charSize(sentenceData, pos);
         }
 
         if (usePrePost) {
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/UTF8NGramToken.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/UTF8NGramToken.java
index 7d68d6f..259288c 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/UTF8NGramToken.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/UTF8NGramToken.java
@@ -21,9 +21,8 @@
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.GrowableArray;
-import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.util.StringUtils;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.UTF8StringBuilder;
 
 public class UTF8NGramToken extends AbstractUTF8Token implements INGramToken {
 
@@ -34,6 +33,8 @@
     protected int numPreChars;
     protected int numPostChars;
 
+    private UTF8StringBuilder builder = new UTF8StringBuilder();
+
     public UTF8NGramToken(byte tokenTypeTag, byte countTypeTag) {
         super(tokenTypeTag, countTypeTag);
     }
@@ -50,38 +51,7 @@
 
     @Override
     public void serializeToken(GrowableArray out) throws IOException {
-        handleTokenTypeTag(out.getDataOutput());
-        int tokenUTF8LenOff = out.getLength();
-
-        // regular chars
-        int numRegChars = tokenLength - numPreChars - numPostChars;
-
-        // assuming pre and post char need 1-byte each in utf8
-        int tokenUTF8Len = numPreChars + numPostChars;
-
-        // Write dummy UTF length which will be correctly set later.
-        out.getDataOutput().writeShort(0);
-
-        // pre chars
-        for (int i = 0; i < numPreChars; i++) {
-            StringUtils.writeCharAsModifiedUTF8(PRECHAR, out.getDataOutput());
-        }
-
-        int pos = start;
-        for (int i = 0; i < numRegChars; i++) {
-            char c = Character.toLowerCase(UTF8StringPointable.charAt(data, pos));
-            tokenUTF8Len += StringUtils.writeCharAsModifiedUTF8(c, out.getDataOutput());
-            pos += UTF8StringPointable.charSize(data, pos);
-        }
-
-        // post chars
-        for (int i = 0; i < numPostChars; i++) {
-            StringUtils.writeCharAsModifiedUTF8(POSTCHAR, out.getDataOutput());
-        }
-
-        // Set UTF length of token.
-        out.getByteArray()[tokenUTF8LenOff] = (byte) ((tokenUTF8Len >>> 8) & 0xFF);
-        out.getByteArray()[tokenUTF8LenOff + 1] = (byte) ((tokenUTF8Len >>> 0) & 0xFF);
+        super.serializeToken(builder, out, numPreChars, numPostChars, PRECHAR, POSTCHAR);
     }
 
     public void setNumPrePostChars(int numPreChars, int numPostChars) {
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/UTF8WordToken.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/UTF8WordToken.java
index caaa682..bc7085c 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/UTF8WordToken.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/UTF8WordToken.java
@@ -21,31 +21,21 @@
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.GrowableArray;
-import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.util.StringUtils;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.UTF8StringBuilder;
 
 public class UTF8WordToken extends AbstractUTF8Token {
 
+    private static char NULL_PLACEHOLDER = 1; // can't be 0, cause utf8 modified char will use 2 bytes to write 0
+
+    private UTF8StringBuilder builder = new UTF8StringBuilder();
+
     public UTF8WordToken(byte tokenTypeTag, byte countTypeTag) {
         super(tokenTypeTag, countTypeTag);
     }
 
     @Override
     public void serializeToken(GrowableArray out) throws IOException {
-        handleTokenTypeTag(out.getDataOutput());
-        int tokenUTF8LenOff = out.getLength();
-        int tokenUTF8Len = 0;
-        // Write dummy UTF length which will be correctly set later.
-        out.getDataOutput().writeShort(0);
-        int pos = start;
-        for (int i = 0; i < tokenLength; i++) {
-            char c = Character.toLowerCase(UTF8StringPointable.charAt(data, pos));
-            tokenUTF8Len += StringUtils.writeCharAsModifiedUTF8(c, out.getDataOutput());
-            pos += UTF8StringPointable.charSize(data, pos);
-        }
-        // Set UTF length of token.
-        out.getByteArray()[tokenUTF8LenOff] = (byte) ((tokenUTF8Len >>> 8) & 0xFF);
-        out.getByteArray()[tokenUTF8LenOff + 1] = (byte) ((tokenUTF8Len >>> 0) & 0xFF);
+        super.serializeToken(builder, out, 0, 0, NULL_PLACEHOLDER, NULL_PLACEHOLDER);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter.java
index d2332f0..40b0481 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexTupleReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.tuples.TypeAwareTupleWriter;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder;
 
 public class RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter extends TypeAwareTupleWriter {
 
@@ -41,13 +42,11 @@
 
         // write field slots for variable length fields
         // since the r-tree has fixed length keys, we don't actually need this?
-        encDec.reset(targetBuf.array(), runner);
         for (int i = startField; i < startField + refs.length; i++) {
             if (!typeTraits[i].isFixedLength()) {
-                encDec.encode(refs[i].getFieldLength(i));
+                runner += VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.encode(refs[i].getFieldLength(i), targetBuf.array(), runner);
             }
         }
-        runner = encDec.getPos();
 
         // write data
         for (int i = 0; i < refs.length; i++) {
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexExamplesTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexExamplesTest.java
index f79997b..b8f2166 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexExamplesTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexExamplesTest.java
@@ -164,8 +164,8 @@
         typeTraits[0] = UTF8StringPointable.TYPE_TRAITS;
         typeTraits[1] = UTF8StringPointable.TYPE_TRAITS;
         // Declare field serdes.
-        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
 
         // Declare keys.
         int keyFieldCount = 1;
@@ -324,8 +324,8 @@
         typeTraits[0] = UTF8StringPointable.TYPE_TRAITS;
         typeTraits[1] = UTF8StringPointable.TYPE_TRAITS;
         // Declare field serdes.
-        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
 
         // Declare keys.
         int keyFieldCount = 1;
@@ -408,8 +408,8 @@
         typeTraits[0] = UTF8StringPointable.TYPE_TRAITS;
         typeTraits[1] = UTF8StringPointable.TYPE_TRAITS;
         // Declare field serdes.
-        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
 
         // Declare keys.
         int keyFieldCount = 1;
@@ -514,8 +514,8 @@
         typeTraits[0] = UTF8StringPointable.TYPE_TRAITS;
         typeTraits[1] = UTF8StringPointable.TYPE_TRAITS;
         // Declare field serdes.
-        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
 
         // Declare keys.
         int keyFieldCount = 1;
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexMultiThreadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexMultiThreadTest.java
index 160f9bf..e181710 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexMultiThreadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexMultiThreadTest.java
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@
     @Test
     public void oneStringKeyAndValue() throws InterruptedException, TreeIndexException, HyracksException {
         ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
         int numKeys = 1;
         String dataMsg = "One String Key And Value";
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexTestDriver.java b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexTestDriver.java
index 0ec313b..b1e8a8c 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexTestDriver.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexTestDriver.java
@@ -124,8 +124,8 @@
             LOGGER.info("BTree " + getTestOpName() + " Test With One String Key And Value.");
         }
 
-        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
 
         // Range search in ["cbf", cc7"]
         ITupleReference lowKey = TupleUtils.createTuple(fieldSerdes, "cbf");
@@ -142,8 +142,8 @@
             LOGGER.info("BTree " + getTestOpName() + " Test With Two String Keys.");
         }
 
-        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
 
         // Range search in ["cbf", "ddd", cc7", "eee"]
         ITupleReference lowKey = TupleUtils.createTuple(fieldSerdes, "cbf", "ddd");
@@ -164,9 +164,9 @@
             LOGGER.info("BTree " + getTestOpName() + " Test With Two String Keys And Values.");
         }
 
-        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
 
         // Range search in ["cbf", "ddd", cc7", "eee"]
         ITupleReference lowKey = TupleUtils.createTuple(fieldSerdes, "cbf", "ddd");
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeExamplesTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeExamplesTest.java
index 6cd81c3..a3029f8 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeExamplesTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeExamplesTest.java
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@
         // Declare field serdes.
         ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
 
         // Declare RTree keys.
         int rtreeKeyFieldCount = 4;
@@ -350,7 +350,7 @@
         // Declare field serdes.
         ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+                IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
 
         // Declare RTree keys.
         int rtreeKeyFieldCount = 4;
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-bloomfilter-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/bloomfilter/BloomFilterTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-bloomfilter-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/bloomfilter/BloomFilterTest.java
index 49df30f..80a69c4 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-bloomfilter-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/bloomfilter/BloomFilterTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-bloomfilter-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/bloomfilter/BloomFilterTest.java
@@ -135,9 +135,9 @@
                 bloomFilterSpec.getNumBucketsPerElements());
 
         int fieldCount = 5;
-        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
         ArrayTupleBuilder tupleBuilder = new ArrayTupleBuilder(fieldCount);
         ArrayTupleReference tuple = new ArrayTupleReference();
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-bloomfilter-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/bloomfilter/MurmurHashForITupleReferenceTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-bloomfilter-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/bloomfilter/MurmurHashForITupleReferenceTest.java
index 1d7aa90..3284f8d 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-bloomfilter-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/bloomfilter/MurmurHashForITupleReferenceTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-bloomfilter-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/bloomfilter/MurmurHashForITupleReferenceTest.java
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@
         }
 
         int fieldCount = 2;
-        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
         ArrayTupleBuilder tupleBuilder = new ArrayTupleBuilder(fieldCount);
         ArrayTupleReference tuple = new ArrayTupleReference();
         String s = randomString(100, rnd);
@@ -137,8 +137,8 @@
         }
 
         int fieldCount = 3;
-        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+        ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
         ArrayTupleBuilder tupleBuilder = new ArrayTupleBuilder(fieldCount);
         ArrayTupleReference tuple = new ArrayTupleReference();
         String s1 = randomString(40, rnd);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTuplesTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTuplesTest.java
index a7215a5..d537bf9 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTuplesTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTuplesTest.java
@@ -161,14 +161,14 @@
         testLSMBTreeTuple(intFields);
         
         ISerializerDeserializer[] stringFields = new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer() };
         testLSMBTreeTuple(stringFields);
         
         ISerializerDeserializer[] mixedFields = new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
                 IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
         testLSMBTreeTuple(mixedFields);
     }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/pom.xml b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/pom.xml
index f2896cb..11a57a2 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/pom.xml
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/pom.xml
@@ -17,40 +17,47 @@
  ! under the License.
  !-->
 
-<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
-	<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
-	<artifactId>hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test</artifactId>
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+    <artifactId>hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test</artifactId>
 
-	<parent>
-		<artifactId>hyracks-tests</artifactId>
-		<groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
-		<version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
-		<relativePath>..</relativePath>
-	</parent>
+    <parent>
+        <artifactId>hyracks-tests</artifactId>
+        <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+        <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        <relativePath>..</relativePath>
+    </parent>
 
+    <dependencies>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+            <artifactId>hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex</artifactId>
+            <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+            <type>jar</type>
+            <scope>compile</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+            <artifactId>hyracks-test-support</artifactId>
+            <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+            <type>jar</type>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+            <artifactId>hyracks-data-std</artifactId>
+            <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+            <type>jar</type>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+            <artifactId>hyracks-util</artifactId>
+            <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+            <type>test-jar</type>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+    </dependencies>
 
-	<dependencies>
-		<dependency>
-			<groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
-			<artifactId>hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex</artifactId>
-			<version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
-			<type>jar</type>
-			<scope>compile</scope>
-		</dependency>
-		<dependency>
-			<groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
-			<artifactId>hyracks-test-support</artifactId>
-			<version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
-			<type>jar</type>
-			<scope>test</scope>
-		</dependency>
-		<dependency>
-			<groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
-			<artifactId>hyracks-data-std</artifactId>
-			<version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
-			<type>jar</type>
-			<scope>test</scope>
-		</dependency>
-	</dependencies>
-
-</project>
+</project>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/NGramTokenizerTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/NGramTokenizerTest.java
index f372dbe..6e764c3 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/NGramTokenizerTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/NGramTokenizerTest.java
@@ -20,21 +20,19 @@
 package org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.tokenizers;
 
 import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
-import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.DataInput;
 import java.io.DataInputStream;
-import java.io.DataOutput;
-import java.io.DataOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.GrowableArray;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringReader;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
 import org.junit.Assert;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.GrowableArray;
-
 public class NGramTokenizerTest {
 
     private char PRECHAR = '#';
@@ -72,11 +70,7 @@
 
     @Before
     public void init() throws Exception {
-        // serialize string into bytes
-        ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
-        DataOutput dos = new DataOutputStream(baos);
-        dos.writeUTF(str);
-        inputBuffer = baos.toByteArray();
+        inputBuffer = UTF8StringUtil.writeStringToBytes(str);
     }
 
     void runTestNGramTokenizerWithCountedHashedUTF8Tokens(boolean prePost) throws IOException {
@@ -192,7 +186,8 @@
             ByteArrayInputStream bais = new ByteArrayInputStream(tokenData.getByteArray());
             DataInput in = new DataInputStream(bais);
 
-            String strGram = in.readUTF();
+            UTF8StringReader reader = new UTF8StringReader();
+            String strGram = reader.readUTF(in);
 
             // System.out.println("\"" + strGram + "\"");
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/WordTokenizerTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/WordTokenizerTest.java
index c42022e..78ba6a3 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/WordTokenizerTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/tokenizers/WordTokenizerTest.java
@@ -20,21 +20,19 @@
 package org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.tokenizers;
 
 import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
-import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.DataInput;
 import java.io.DataInputStream;
-import java.io.DataOutput;
-import java.io.DataOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 
-import junit.framework.Assert;
-
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.GrowableArray;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringReader;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.GrowableArray;
+import junit.framework.Assert;
 
 public class WordTokenizerTest {
 
@@ -46,7 +44,8 @@
     private ArrayList<Integer> expectedCountedHashedUTF8Tokens = new ArrayList<Integer>();
 
     private boolean isSeparator(char c) {
-        return !(Character.isLetterOrDigit(c) || Character.getType(c) == Character.OTHER_LETTER || Character.getType(c) == Character.OTHER_NUMBER);
+        return !(Character.isLetterOrDigit(c) || Character.getType(c) == Character.OTHER_LETTER
+                || Character.getType(c) == Character.OTHER_NUMBER);
     }
 
     private void tokenize(String text, ArrayList<String> tokens) {
@@ -78,10 +77,7 @@
     @Before
     public void init() throws IOException {
         // serialize text into bytes
-        ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
-        DataOutput dos = new DataOutputStream(baos);
-        dos.writeUTF(text);
-        inputBuffer = baos.toByteArray();
+        inputBuffer = UTF8StringUtil.writeStringToBytes(text);
 
         // init expected string tokens
         tokenize(text, expectedUTF8Tokens);
@@ -144,7 +140,8 @@
     public void testWordTokenizerWithHashedUTF8Tokens() throws IOException {
 
         HashedUTF8WordTokenFactory tokenFactory = new HashedUTF8WordTokenFactory();
-        DelimitedUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer tokenizer = new DelimitedUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer(true, false, tokenFactory);
+        DelimitedUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer tokenizer = new DelimitedUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer(true, false,
+                tokenFactory);
 
         tokenizer.reset(inputBuffer, 0, inputBuffer.length);
 
@@ -175,7 +172,8 @@
     public void testWordTokenizerWithUTF8Tokens() throws IOException {
 
         UTF8WordTokenFactory tokenFactory = new UTF8WordTokenFactory();
-        DelimitedUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer tokenizer = new DelimitedUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer(true, false, tokenFactory);
+        DelimitedUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer tokenizer = new DelimitedUTF8StringBinaryTokenizer(true, false,
+                tokenFactory);
 
         tokenizer.reset(inputBuffer, 0, inputBuffer.length);
 
@@ -194,7 +192,8 @@
             ByteArrayInputStream bais = new ByteArrayInputStream(tokenData.getByteArray());
             DataInput in = new DataInputStream(bais);
 
-            String strToken = in.readUTF();
+            UTF8StringReader reader = new UTF8StringReader();
+            String strToken = reader.readUTF(in);
 
             Assert.assertEquals(expectedUTF8Tokens.get(tokenCount), strToken);
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.java
index 36f615f..fd94870 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.java
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@
         fieldGens[0] = new DocumentStringFieldValueGenerator(2, 10, 10000, rnd);
         fieldGens[1] = new SortedIntegerFieldValueGenerator(0);
         ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
         TupleGenerator tupleGen = new TupleGenerator(fieldGens, fieldSerdes, 0);
         return tupleGen;
     }
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@
         fieldGens[0] = new PersonNameFieldValueGenerator(rnd, 0.5f);
         fieldGens[1] = new SortedIntegerFieldValueGenerator(0);
         ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
+                new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(), IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
         TupleGenerator tupleGen = new TupleGenerator(fieldGens, fieldSerdes, 0);
         return tupleGen;
     }
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@
             case INMEMORY:
             case ONDISK:
             case LSM: {
-                fieldSerdes = new ISerializerDeserializer[] { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                fieldSerdes = new ISerializerDeserializer[] { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
                         IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
                 break;
             }
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@
             case PARTITIONED_ONDISK:
             case PARTITIONED_LSM: {
                 // Such indexes also include the set-size for partitioning.
-                fieldSerdes = new ISerializerDeserializer[] { UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE,
+                fieldSerdes = new ISerializerDeserializer[] { new UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer(),
                         ShortSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
                 break;
             }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-util/pom.xml b/hyracks/hyracks-util/pom.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ca38040
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-util/pom.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!--
+  ~ Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+  ~ or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+  ~ distributed with this work for additional information
+  ~ regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+  ~ to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+  ~ "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+  ~ with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+  ~
+  ~   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+  ~
+  ~ Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+  ~ software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+  ~ "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+  ~ KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+  ~ specific language governing permissions and limitations
+  ~ under the License.
+  -->
+
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
+         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+    <parent>
+        <artifactId>hyracks</artifactId>
+        <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+        <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    </parent>
+
+    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+
+    <build>
+        <plugins>
+            <plugin>
+                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
+                <version>2.6</version>
+                <executions>
+                    <execution>
+                        <goals>
+                            <goal>test-jar</goal>
+                        </goals>
+                    </execution>
+                </executions>
+            </plugin>
+        </plugins>
+    </build>
+
+    <artifactId>hyracks-util</artifactId>
+    <dependencies>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>junit</groupId>
+            <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+    </dependencies>
+
+
+</project>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/bytes/Base64Parser.java b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/bytes/Base64Parser.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..257daee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/bytes/Base64Parser.java
@@ -0,0 +1,250 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.util.bytes;
+
+import java.util.Arrays;
+
+public class Base64Parser {
+    private static final byte[] DECODE_MAP = initDecodeMap();
+    private static final byte PADDING = 127;
+
+    private static byte[] initDecodeMap() {
+        byte[] map = new byte[128];
+        Arrays.fill(map, (byte) -1);
+
+        int i;
+        for (i = 'A'; i <= 'Z'; i++) {
+            map[i] = (byte) (i - 'A');
+        }
+        for (i = 'a'; i <= 'z'; i++) {
+            map[i] = (byte) (i - 'a' + 26);
+        }
+        for (i = '0'; i <= '9'; i++) {
+            map[i] = (byte) (i - '0' + 52);
+        }
+        map['+'] = 62;
+        map['/'] = 63;
+        map['='] = PADDING;
+
+        return map;
+    }
+
+    private byte[] quadruplet = new byte[4];
+    private byte[] storage;
+    private int length = 0;
+
+    /**
+     * Parse the Base64 sequence from {@code input} into {@code out}
+     * Note, the out should have enough space by checking the {@link #guessLength(char[], int, int)} first
+     *
+     * @param input
+     * @param start
+     * @param length
+     * @param out
+     * @param offset
+     * @return
+     */
+    public int parseBase64String(char[] input, int start, int length, byte[] out, int offset) {
+        int outLength = 0;
+
+        int i;
+        int q = 0;
+
+        // convert each quadruplet to three bytes.
+        for (i = 0; i < length; i++) {
+            char ch = input[start + i];
+            byte v = DECODE_MAP[ch];
+
+            if (v == -1) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid Base64 character");
+            }
+            quadruplet[q++] = v;
+
+            if (q == 4) {
+                outLength += dumpQuadruplet(out, offset + outLength);
+                q = 0;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return outLength;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Parse the Base64 sequence from {@code input} into {@code out}
+     * Note, the out should have enough space by checking the {@link #guessLength(byte[], int, int)} first
+     *
+     * @param input
+     * @param start
+     * @param length
+     * @param out
+     * @param offset
+     * @return the number of written bytes
+     */
+    public int parseBase64String(byte[] input, int start, int length, byte[] out, int offset) {
+        int outLength = 0;
+
+        int i;
+        int q = 0;
+
+        // convert each quadruplet to three bytes.
+        for (i = 0; i < length; i++) {
+            char ch = (char) input[start + i];
+            byte v = DECODE_MAP[ch];
+
+            if (v == -1) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid Base64 character");
+            }
+            quadruplet[q++] = v;
+
+            if (q == 4) {
+                outLength += dumpQuadruplet(out, offset + outLength);
+                q = 0;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return outLength;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * computes the length of binary data speculatively.
+     * Our requirement is to create byte[] of the exact length to store the binary data.
+     * If we do this in a straight-forward way, it takes two passes over the data.
+     * Experiments show that this is a non-trivial overhead (35% or so is spent on
+     * the first pass in calculating the length.)
+     * So the approach here is that we compute the length speculatively, without looking
+     * at the whole contents. The obtained speculative value is never less than the
+     * actual length of the binary data, but it may be bigger. So if the speculation
+     * goes wrong, we'll pay the cost of reallocation and buffer copying.
+     * If the base64 text is tightly packed with no indentation nor illegal char
+     * (like what most web services produce), then the speculation of this method
+     * will be correct, so we get the performance benefit.
+     */
+    public static int guessLength(char[] chars, int start, int length) {
+
+        // compute the tail '=' chars
+        int j = length - 1;
+        for (; j >= 0; j--) {
+            byte code = DECODE_MAP[chars[start + j]];
+            if (code == PADDING) {
+                continue;
+            }
+            if (code == -1) // most likely this base64 text is indented. go with the upper bound
+            {
+                return length / 4 * 3;
+            }
+            break;
+        }
+
+        j++;    // text.charAt(j) is now at some base64 char, so +1 to make it the size
+        int padSize = length - j;
+        if (padSize > 2) // something is wrong with base64. be safe and go with the upper bound
+        {
+            return length / 4 * 3;
+        }
+
+        // so far this base64 looks like it's unindented tightly packed base64.
+        // take a chance and create an array with the expected size
+        return length / 4 * 3 - padSize;
+    }
+
+    public static int guessLength(byte[] chars, int start, int length) {
+
+        // compute the tail '=' chars
+        int j = length - 1;
+        for (; j >= 0; j--) {
+            byte code = DECODE_MAP[chars[start + j]];
+            if (code == PADDING) {
+                continue;
+            }
+            if (code == -1) // most likely this base64 text is indented. go with the upper bound
+            {
+                return length / 4 * 3;
+            }
+            break;
+        }
+
+        j++;    // text.charAt(j) is now at some base64 char, so +1 to make it the size
+        int padSize = length - j;
+        if (padSize > 2) // something is wrong with base64. be safe and go with the upper bound
+        {
+            return length / 4 * 3;
+        }
+
+        // so far this base64 looks like it's unindented tightly packed base64.
+        // take a chance and create an array with the expected size
+        return length / 4 * 3 - padSize;
+    }
+
+    public byte[] getByteArray() {
+        return storage;
+    }
+
+    public int getLength() {
+        return length;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Same as {@link #parseBase64String(byte[], int, int, byte[], int)}, but we will provide the storage for caller
+     *
+     * @param input
+     * @param start
+     * @param length
+     */
+    public void generatePureByteArrayFromBase64String(byte[] input, int start, int length) {
+        // The base64 character length equals to utf8length
+        if (length % 4 != 0) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+                    "Invalid Base64 string, the length of the string should be a multiple of 4");
+        }
+        final int buflen = guessLength(input, start, length);
+        ensureCapacity(buflen);
+        this.length = parseBase64String(input, start, length, storage, 0);
+    }
+
+    public void generatePureByteArrayFromBase64String(char[] input, int start, int length) {
+        if (length % 4 != 0) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+                    "Invalid Base64 string, the length of the string should be a multiple of 4");
+        }
+        final int buflen = guessLength(input, start, length);
+        ensureCapacity(buflen);
+        this.length = parseBase64String(input, start, length, storage, 0);
+    }
+
+    private void ensureCapacity(int length) {
+        if (storage == null || storage.length < length) {
+            storage = new byte[length];
+        }
+    }
+
+    private int dumpQuadruplet(byte[] out, int offset) {
+        int outLength = 0;
+        // quadruplet is now filled.
+        out[offset + outLength++] = (byte) ((quadruplet[0] << 2) | (quadruplet[1] >> 4));
+        if (quadruplet[2] != PADDING) {
+            out[offset + outLength++] = (byte) ((quadruplet[1] << 4) | (quadruplet[2] >> 2));
+        }
+        if (quadruplet[3] != PADDING) {
+            out[offset + outLength++] = (byte) ((quadruplet[2] << 6) | (quadruplet[3]));
+        }
+        return outLength;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/bytes/Base64Printer.java b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/bytes/Base64Printer.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e1c078
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/bytes/Base64Printer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.util.bytes;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+public class Base64Printer {
+    /**
+     * Encodes a byte array into a {@code Appendable} stream by doing base64 encoding.
+     *
+     * @return the same input stream.
+     */
+    public static Appendable printBase64Binary(byte[] input, int offset, int len, Appendable appendable)
+            throws IOException {
+        // encode elements until only 1 or 2 elements are left to encode
+        int remaining = len;
+        int i;
+        for (i = offset; remaining >= 3; remaining -= 3, i += 3) {
+            appendable.append(encode(input[i] >> 2));
+            appendable.append(encode(
+                    ((input[i] & 0x3) << 4)
+                            | ((input[i + 1] >> 4) & 0xF)));
+            appendable.append(encode(
+                    ((input[i + 1] & 0xF) << 2)
+                            | ((input[i + 2] >> 6) & 0x3)));
+            appendable.append(encode(input[i + 2] & 0x3F));
+        }
+        // encode when exactly 1 element (left) to encode
+        if (remaining == 1) {
+            appendable.append(encode(input[i] >> 2));
+            appendable.append(encode(((input[i]) & 0x3) << 4));
+            appendable.append('=');
+            appendable.append('=');
+        }
+        // encode when exactly 2 elements (left) to encode
+        if (remaining == 2) {
+            appendable.append(encode(input[i] >> 2));
+            appendable.append(encode(((input[i] & 0x3) << 4)
+                    | ((input[i + 1] >> 4) & 0xF)));
+            appendable.append(encode((input[i + 1] & 0xF) << 2));
+            appendable.append('=');
+        }
+        return appendable;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Encodes a byte array into a char array by doing base64 encoding.
+     * The caller must supply a big enough buffer.
+     *
+     * @return the value of {@code ptr+((len+2)/3)*4}, which is the new offset
+     * in the output buffer where the further bytes should be placed.
+     */
+    public static int printBase64Binary(byte[] input, int offset, int len, char[] buf, int ptr) {
+        // encode elements until only 1 or 2 elements are left to encode
+        int remaining = len;
+        int i;
+        for (i = offset; remaining >= 3; remaining -= 3, i += 3) {
+            buf[ptr++] = encode(input[i] >> 2);
+            buf[ptr++] = encode(
+                    ((input[i] & 0x3) << 4)
+                            | ((input[i + 1] >> 4) & 0xF));
+            buf[ptr++] = encode(
+                    ((input[i + 1] & 0xF) << 2)
+                            | ((input[i + 2] >> 6) & 0x3));
+            buf[ptr++] = encode(input[i + 2] & 0x3F);
+        }
+        // encode when exactly 1 element (left) to encode
+        if (remaining == 1) {
+            buf[ptr++] = encode(input[i] >> 2);
+            buf[ptr++] = encode(((input[i]) & 0x3) << 4);
+            buf[ptr++] = '=';
+            buf[ptr++] = '=';
+        }
+        // encode when exactly 2 elements (left) to encode
+        if (remaining == 2) {
+            buf[ptr++] = encode(input[i] >> 2);
+            buf[ptr++] = encode(((input[i] & 0x3) << 4)
+                    | ((input[i + 1] >> 4) & 0xF));
+            buf[ptr++] = encode((input[i + 1] & 0xF) << 2);
+            buf[ptr++] = '=';
+        }
+        return ptr;
+    }
+
+    private static final char[] encodeMap = initEncodeMap();
+
+    private static char[] initEncodeMap() {
+        char[] map = new char[64];
+        int i;
+        for (i = 0; i < 26; i++) {
+            map[i] = (char) ('A' + i);
+        }
+        for (i = 26; i < 52; i++) {
+            map[i] = (char) ('a' + (i - 26));
+        }
+        for (i = 52; i < 62; i++) {
+            map[i] = (char) ('0' + (i - 52));
+        }
+        map[62] = '+';
+        map[63] = '/';
+
+        return map;
+    }
+
+    public static char encode(int i) {
+        return encodeMap[i & 0x3F];
+    }
+}
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/bytes/HexParser.java b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/bytes/HexParser.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ba7276b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/bytes/HexParser.java
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.util.bytes;
+
+public class HexParser {
+    public static boolean isValidHexChar(char c) {
+        if (c >= '0' && c <= '9'
+                || c >= 'a' && c <= 'f'
+                || c >= 'A' && c <= 'F') {
+            return true;
+        }
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    public static int getValueFromValidHexChar(char c) {
+        if (c >= '0' && c <= '9') {
+            return c - '0';
+        }
+        if (c >= 'a' && c <= 'f') {
+            return 10 + c - 'a';
+        }
+        if (c >= 'A' && c <= 'F') {
+            return 10 + c - 'A';
+        }
+        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid hex character : " + c);
+    }
+
+    private byte[] storage;
+    private int length;
+
+    public byte[] getByteArray() {
+        return storage;
+    }
+
+    public int getLength() {
+        return length;
+    }
+
+    public void generateByteArrayFromHexString(char[] input, int start, int length) {
+        if (length % 2 != 0) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+                    "Invalid hex string for binary type: the string length should be a muliple of 2.");
+        }
+        this.length = length / 2;
+        ensureCapacity(this.length);
+        generateByteArrayFromHexString(input, start, length, storage, 0);
+    }
+
+    public void generateByteArrayFromHexString(byte[] input, int start, int length) {
+        if (length % 2 != 0) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+                    "Invalid hex string for binary type: the string length should be a muliple of 2.");
+        }
+        this.length = length / 2;
+        ensureCapacity(this.length);
+        generateByteArrayFromHexString(input, start, length, storage, 0);
+    }
+
+    private void ensureCapacity(int capacity) {
+        if (storage == null || storage.length < capacity) {
+            storage = new byte[capacity];
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static void generateByteArrayFromHexString(char[] input, int start, int length, byte[] output,
+            int offset) {
+        for (int i = 0; i < length; i += 2) {
+            output[offset + i / 2] = (byte) ((getValueFromValidHexChar(input[start + i]) << 4) +
+                    getValueFromValidHexChar(input[start + i + 1]));
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static void generateByteArrayFromHexString(byte[] input, int start, int length, byte[] output,
+            int offset) {
+        for (int i = 0; i < length; i += 2) {
+            output[offset + i / 2] = (byte) ((getValueFromValidHexChar((char) input[start + i]) << 4) +
+                    getValueFromValidHexChar((char) input[start + i + 1]));
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/bytes/HexPrinter.java b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/bytes/HexPrinter.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5a9c064
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/bytes/HexPrinter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.util.bytes;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+public class HexPrinter {
+    public enum CASE {
+        LOWER_CASE,
+        UPPER_CASE,
+    }
+
+    public static byte hex(int i, CASE c) {
+        switch (c) {
+            case LOWER_CASE:
+                return (byte) (i < 10 ? i + '0' : i + ('a' - 10));
+            case UPPER_CASE:
+                return (byte) (i < 10 ? i + '0' : i + ('A' - 10));
+        }
+        return Byte.parseByte(null);
+    }
+
+    public static Appendable printHexString(byte[] bytes, int start, int length, Appendable appendable)
+            throws IOException {
+        for (int i = 0; i < length; ++i) {
+            appendable.append((char) hex((bytes[start + i] >>> 4) & 0x0f, CASE.UPPER_CASE));
+            appendable.append((char) hex((bytes[start + i] & 0x0f), CASE.UPPER_CASE));
+        }
+        return appendable;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/encoding/VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.java b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/encoding/VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5a716b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/encoding/VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.java
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding;
+
+import java.io.DataInput;
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+/**
+ * Encodes positive integers in a variable-bytes format.
+ *
+ * Each byte stores seven bits of the number. The first bit of each byte notifies if it is the last byte.
+ * Specifically, if the first bit is set, then we need to shift the current value by seven and
+ * continue to read the next byte util we meet a byte whose first byte is unset.
+ *
+ * e.g. if the number is < 128, it will be stored using one byte and the byte value keeps as original.
+ * To store the number 255 (0xff) , it will be encoded as [0x81,0x7f]. To decode that value, it reads the 0x81
+ * to know that the current value is (0x81 & 0x7f)= 0x01, and the first bit tells that there are more bytes to
+ * be read. When it meets 0x7f, whose first flag is unset, it knows that it is the final byte to decode.
+ * Finally it will return ( 0x01 << 7) + 0x7f === 255.
+ *
+ */
+public class VarLenIntEncoderDecoder {
+    // sometimes the dec number is easier to get the sense of how big it is.
+    public static final int BOUND_ONE_BYTE = 128; // 1 << 7
+    public static final int BOUND_TWO_BYTE = 16384; // 1 << 14
+    public static final int BOUND_THREE_BYTE = 2097152; // 1 << 21
+    public static final int BOUND_FOUR_BYTE = 268435456; // 1 << 28
+    public static final int BOUND_FIVE_BYTE = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
+
+    public static final int ENCODE_MASK = 0x0000007F;
+    public static final byte CONTINUE_CHUNK = (byte) 0x80;
+    public static final byte DECODE_MASK = 0x7F;
+
+    // calculate the number of bytes needed for encoding
+    public static int getBytesRequired(int length) {
+        if (length < 0) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("The length must be an non-negative value");
+        }
+
+        int byteCount = 0;
+        while (length > ENCODE_MASK) {
+            length = length >>> 7;
+            byteCount++;
+        }
+        return byteCount + 1;
+    }
+
+    public static int decode(DataInput in) throws IOException {
+        int sum = 0;
+        byte b = in.readByte();
+        while ((b & CONTINUE_CHUNK) == CONTINUE_CHUNK) {
+            sum = (sum + (b & DECODE_MASK)) << 7;
+            b = in.readByte();
+        }
+        sum += b;
+        return sum;
+    }
+
+    public static int decode(byte[] srcBytes, int startPos) {
+        int sum = 0;
+        while ((srcBytes[startPos] & CONTINUE_CHUNK) == CONTINUE_CHUNK) {
+            sum = (sum + (srcBytes[startPos] & DECODE_MASK)) << 7;
+            startPos++;
+        }
+        sum += srcBytes[startPos++];
+        return sum;
+    }
+
+    public static int encode(int lengthVal, byte[] destBytes, int startPos) {
+        if (lengthVal < 0) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("The length must be an non-negative value");
+        }
+        int nextPos = startPos;
+        while (lengthVal > ENCODE_MASK) {
+            destBytes[nextPos++] = (byte) (lengthVal & ENCODE_MASK);
+            lengthVal = lengthVal >>> 7;
+        }
+        destBytes[nextPos++] = (byte) lengthVal;
+
+        // reverse order to optimize for decoding speed
+        int length = nextPos - startPos;
+        int i = 0;
+        for (; i < length / 2; i++) {
+            byte b = destBytes[startPos + i];
+            destBytes[startPos + i] = (byte) (destBytes[startPos + length - 1 - i] | CONTINUE_CHUNK);
+            destBytes[startPos + length - 1 - i] = (byte) (b | CONTINUE_CHUNK);
+        }
+        destBytes[startPos + i] |= CONTINUE_CHUNK;
+        destBytes[nextPos - 1] &= ENCODE_MASK;
+        return length;
+    }
+
+    public static VarLenIntDecoder createDecoder() {
+        return new VarLenIntDecoder();
+    }
+
+    // keep the stateful version for the ease of the continuously decoding behaviors.
+    public static class VarLenIntDecoder {
+
+        private byte[] bytes = null;
+        private int pos = 0;
+
+        public VarLenIntDecoder reset(byte[] bytes, int pos) {
+            this.bytes = bytes;
+            this.pos = pos;
+            return this;
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * @return the int value
+         */
+        public int decode() {
+            int sum = 0;
+            while ((bytes[pos] & CONTINUE_CHUNK) == CONTINUE_CHUNK) {
+                sum = (sum + (bytes[pos] & DECODE_MASK)) << 7;
+                pos++;
+            }
+            sum += bytes[pos++];
+            return sum;
+        }
+
+        public int getPos() {
+            return pos;
+        }
+
+    }
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/string/UTF8StringReader.java b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/string/UTF8StringReader.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3cd0300
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/string/UTF8StringReader.java
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.util.string;
+
+import java.io.DataInput;
+import java.io.EOFException;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.Serializable;
+import java.io.UTFDataFormatException;
+
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder;
+
+public class UTF8StringReader implements Serializable{
+
+    private byte[] bytearr = null;
+    private char[] chararr = null;
+
+    /**
+     * Reads from the
+     * stream <code>in</code> a representation
+     * of a Unicode  character string encoded in
+     * <a href="DataInput.html#modified-utf-8">modified UTF-8</a> format;
+     * this string of characters is then returned as a <code>String</code>.
+     * The details of the modified UTF-8 representation
+     * are  exactly the same as for the <code>readUTF</code>
+     * method of <code>DataInput</code>.
+     *
+     * @param in a data input stream.
+     * @return a Unicode string.
+     * @throws EOFException           if the input stream reaches the end
+     *                                before all the bytes.
+     * @throws IOException            the stream has been closed and the contained
+     *                                input stream does not support reading after close, or
+     *                                another I/O error occurs.
+     * @throws UTFDataFormatException if the bytes do not represent a
+     *                                valid modified UTF-8 encoding of a Unicode string.
+     * @see java.io.DataInputStream#readUnsignedShort()
+     */
+    public final String readUTF(DataInput in) throws IOException {
+        int utflen = VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.decode(in);
+
+        if (bytearr == null || bytearr.length < utflen) {
+            bytearr = new byte[utflen * 2];
+            chararr = new char[utflen * 2];
+        }
+
+        int c, char2, char3;
+        int count = 0;
+        int chararr_count = 0;
+
+        in.readFully(bytearr, 0, utflen);
+
+        while (count < utflen) {
+            c = (int) bytearr[count] & 0xff;
+            if (c > 127)
+                break;
+            count++;
+            chararr[chararr_count++] = (char) c;
+        }
+
+        while (count < utflen) {
+            c = (int) bytearr[count] & 0xff;
+            switch (c >> 4) {
+                case 0:
+                case 1:
+                case 2:
+                case 3:
+                case 4:
+                case 5:
+                case 6:
+                case 7:
+                    /* 0xxxxxxx*/
+                    count++;
+                    chararr[chararr_count++] = (char) c;
+                    break;
+                case 12:
+                case 13:
+                    /* 110x xxxx   10xx xxxx*/
+                    count += 2;
+                    if (count > utflen)
+                        throw new UTFDataFormatException(
+                                "malformed input: partial character at end");
+                    char2 = (int) bytearr[count - 1];
+                    if ((char2 & 0xC0) != 0x80)
+                        throw new UTFDataFormatException(
+                                "malformed input around byte " + count);
+                    chararr[chararr_count++] = (char) (((c & 0x1F) << 6) |
+                            (char2 & 0x3F));
+                    break;
+                case 14:
+                    /* 1110 xxxx  10xx xxxx  10xx xxxx */
+                    count += 3;
+                    if (count > utflen)
+                        throw new UTFDataFormatException(
+                                "malformed input: partial character at end");
+                    char2 = (int) bytearr[count - 2];
+                    char3 = (int) bytearr[count - 1];
+                    if (((char2 & 0xC0) != 0x80) || ((char3 & 0xC0) != 0x80))
+                        throw new UTFDataFormatException(
+                                "malformed input around byte " + (count - 1));
+                    chararr[chararr_count++] = (char) (((c & 0x0F) << 12) |
+                            ((char2 & 0x3F) << 6) |
+                            ((char3 & 0x3F) << 0));
+                    break;
+                default:
+                    /* 10xx xxxx,  1111 xxxx */
+                    throw new UTFDataFormatException(
+                            "malformed input around byte " + count);
+            }
+        }
+        // The number of chars produced may be less than utflen
+        return new String(chararr, 0, chararr_count);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/string/UTF8StringUtil.java b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/string/UTF8StringUtil.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7929691
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/string/UTF8StringUtil.java
@@ -0,0 +1,422 @@
+/**
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.util.string;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.io.DataOutput;
+import java.io.DataOutputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.OutputStream;
+
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder;
+
+/**
+ * A helper package to operate the UTF8String in Hyracks.
+ * Most of the codes were migrated from asterix-fuzzyjoin and hyracks-storage-am-invertedindex
+ */
+public class UTF8StringUtil {
+    public static char charAt(byte[] b, int s) {
+        if (s >= b.length) {
+            throw new ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException("Are you crazy?");
+        }
+        int c = b[s] & 0xff;
+        switch (c >> 4) {
+            case 0:
+            case 1:
+            case 2:
+            case 3:
+            case 4:
+            case 5:
+            case 6:
+            case 7:
+                return (char) c;
+
+            case 12:
+            case 13:
+                return (char) (((c & 0x1F) << 6) | ((b[s + 1]) & 0x3F));
+
+            case 14:
+                return (char) (((c & 0x0F) << 12) | (((b[s + 1]) & 0x3F) << 6) | (((b[s + 2]) & 0x3F) << 0));
+
+            default:
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException();
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static int charSize(byte[] b, int s) {
+        int c = b[s] & 0xff;
+        switch (c >> 4) {
+            case 0:
+            case 1:
+            case 2:
+            case 3:
+            case 4:
+            case 5:
+            case 6:
+            case 7:
+                return 1;
+
+            case 12:
+            case 13:
+                return 2;
+
+            case 14:
+                return 3;
+        }
+        throw new IllegalStateException();
+    }
+
+    public static int getModifiedUTF8Len(char c) {
+        if (c >= 0x0001 && c <= 0x007F) {
+            return 1;
+        } else if (c <= 0x07FF) {
+            return 2;
+        } else {
+            return 3;
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static int writeCharAsModifiedUTF8(char c, DataOutput dos) throws IOException {
+        if (c >= 0x0001 && c <= 0x007F) {
+            dos.writeByte(c);
+            return 1;
+        } else if (c <= 0x07FF) {
+            dos.writeByte((byte) (0xC0 | ((c >> 6) & 0x3F)));
+            dos.writeByte((byte) (0x80 | (c & 0x3F)));
+            return 2;
+        } else {
+            dos.writeByte((byte) (0xE0 | ((c >> 12) & 0x0F)));
+            dos.writeByte((byte) (0x80 | ((c >> 6) & 0x3F)));
+            dos.writeByte((byte) (0x80 | (c & 0x3F)));
+            return 3;
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static int writeCharAsModifiedUTF8(char c, OutputStream dos) throws IOException {
+        if (c >= 0x0001 && c <= 0x007F) {
+            dos.write(c);
+            return 1;
+        } else if (c <= 0x07FF) {
+            dos.write((byte) (0xC0 | ((c >> 6) & 0x3F)));
+            dos.write((byte) (0x80 | (c & 0x3F)));
+            return 2;
+        } else {
+            dos.write((byte) (0xE0 | ((c >> 12) & 0x0F)));
+            dos.write((byte) (0x80 | ((c >> 6) & 0x3F)));
+            dos.write((byte) (0x80 | (c & 0x3F)));
+            return 3;
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static int getStringLength(byte[] b, int s) {
+        int len = getUTFLength(b, s);
+        int pos = s + getNumBytesToStoreLength(len);
+        int end = pos + len;
+        int charCount = 0;
+        while (pos < end) {
+            charCount++;
+            pos += charSize(b, pos);
+        }
+        return charCount;
+    }
+
+    public static int getUTFLength(byte[] b, int s) {
+        return VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.decode(b, s);
+    }
+
+    public static int getNumBytesToStoreLength(int strlen) {
+        return VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.getBytesRequired(strlen);
+    }
+
+    public static int UTF8ToCodePoint(byte[] b, int s) {
+        if (b[s] >> 7 == 0) {
+            // 1 byte
+            return b[s];
+        } else if ((b[s] & 0xe0) == 0xc0) { /*0xe0 = 0b1110000*/
+            // 2 bytes
+            return ((int) (b[s] & 0x1f)) << 6 | /*0x3f = 0b00111111*/
+                    ((int) (b[s + 1] & 0x3f));
+        } else if ((b[s] & 0xf0) == 0xe0) {
+            // 3bytes
+            return ((int) (b[s] & 0xf)) << 12 | ((int) (b[s + 1] & 0x3f)) << 6
+                    | ((int) (b[s + 2] & 0x3f));
+        } else if ((b[s] & 0xf8) == 0xf0) {
+            // 4bytes
+            return ((int) (b[s] & 0x7)) << 18 | ((int) (b[s + 1] & 0x3f)) << 12
+                    | ((int) (b[s + 2] & 0x3f)) << 6 | ((int) (b[s + 3] & 0x3f));
+        } else if ((b[s] & 0xfc) == 0xf8) {
+            // 5bytes
+            return ((int) (b[s] & 0x3)) << 24 | ((int) (b[s + 1] & 0x3f)) << 18
+                    | ((int) (b[s + 2] & 0x3f)) << 12 | ((int) (b[s + 3] & 0x3f)) << 6
+                    | ((int) (b[s + 4] & 0x3f));
+        } else if ((b[s] & 0xfe) == 0xfc) {
+            // 6bytes
+            return ((int) (b[s] & 0x1)) << 30 | ((int) (b[s + 1] & 0x3f)) << 24
+                    | ((int) (b[s + 2] & 0x3f)) << 18 | ((int) (b[s + 3] & 0x3f)) << 12
+                    | ((int) (b[s + 4] & 0x3f)) << 6 | ((int) (b[s + 5] & 0x3f));
+        }
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    public static int codePointToUTF8(int c, byte[] outputUTF8) {
+        if (c < 0x80) {
+            outputUTF8[0] = (byte) (c & 0x7F /* mask 7 lsb: 0b1111111 */);
+            return 1;
+        } else if (c < 0x0800) {
+            outputUTF8[0] = (byte) (c >> 6 & 0x1F | 0xC0);
+            outputUTF8[1] = (byte) (c & 0x3F | 0x80);
+            return 2;
+        } else if (c < 0x010000) {
+            outputUTF8[0] = (byte) (c >> 12 & 0x0F | 0xE0);
+            outputUTF8[1] = (byte) (c >> 6 & 0x3F | 0x80);
+            outputUTF8[2] = (byte) (c & 0x3F | 0x80);
+            return 3;
+        } else if (c < 0x200000) {
+            outputUTF8[0] = (byte) (c >> 18 & 0x07 | 0xF0);
+            outputUTF8[1] = (byte) (c >> 12 & 0x3F | 0x80);
+            outputUTF8[2] = (byte) (c >> 6 & 0x3F | 0x80);
+            outputUTF8[3] = (byte) (c & 0x3F | 0x80);
+            return 4;
+        } else if (c < 0x4000000) {
+            outputUTF8[0] = (byte) (c >> 24 & 0x03 | 0xF8);
+            outputUTF8[1] = (byte) (c >> 18 & 0x3F | 0x80);
+            outputUTF8[2] = (byte) (c >> 12 & 0x3F | 0x80);
+            outputUTF8[3] = (byte) (c >> 6 & 0x3F | 0x80);
+            outputUTF8[4] = (byte) (c & 0x3F | 0x80);
+            return 5;
+        } else if (c < 0x80000000) {
+            outputUTF8[0] = (byte) (c >> 30 & 0x01 | 0xFC);
+            outputUTF8[1] = (byte) (c >> 24 & 0x3F | 0x80);
+            outputUTF8[2] = (byte) (c >> 18 & 0x3F | 0x80);
+            outputUTF8[3] = (byte) (c >> 12 & 0x3F | 0x80);
+            outputUTF8[4] = (byte) (c >> 6 & 0x3F | 0x80);
+            outputUTF8[5] = (byte) (c & 0x3F | 0x80);
+            return 6;
+        }
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Compute the normalized key of the UTF8 string.
+     * The normalized key in Hyracks is mainly used to speedup the comparison between pointable data.
+     * In the UTF8StringPTR case, we compute the integer value by using the first 2 chars.
+     * The comparator will first use this integer to get the result ( <,>, or =), it will check
+     * the actual bytes only if the normalized key is equal. Thus this normalized key must be
+     * consistent with the comparison result.
+     */
+    public static int normalize(byte[] bytes, int start) {
+        int len = getUTFLength(bytes, start);
+        long nk = 0;
+        int offset = start + getNumBytesToStoreLength(len);
+        for (int i = 0; i < 2; ++i) {
+            nk <<= 16;
+            if (i < len) {
+                nk += ((int) charAt(bytes, offset)) & 0xffff;
+                offset += charSize(bytes, offset);
+            }
+        }
+        return (int) (nk >> 1); // make it always positive.
+    }
+
+    public static int compareTo(byte[] thisBytes, int thisStart, byte[] thatBytes, int thatStart) {
+        return compareTo(thisBytes, thisStart, thatBytes, thatStart, false, false);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * This function provides the raw bytes-based comparison for UTF8 strings.
+     * Note that the comparison may not deliver the correct ordering for certain languages that include 2 or 3 bytes characters.
+     * But it works for single-byte character languages.
+     */
+    public static int rawByteCompareTo(byte[] thisBytes, int thisStart, byte[] thatBytes, int thatStart) {
+        return compareTo(thisBytes, thisStart, thatBytes, thatStart, false, true);
+    }
+
+    public static int lowerCaseCompareTo(byte[] thisBytes, int thisStart, byte[] thatBytes, int thatStart) {
+        return compareTo(thisBytes, thisStart, thatBytes, thatStart, true, false);
+    }
+
+    public static int hash(byte[] bytes, int start, int coefficient, int r) {
+        return hash(bytes, start, false, false, coefficient, r);
+    }
+
+    public static int hash(byte[] bytes, int start) {
+        return hash(bytes, start, false, false, 31, Integer.MAX_VALUE);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * This function provides the raw bytes-based hash function for UTF8 strings.
+     * Note that the hash values may not deliver the correct ordering for certain languages that include 2 or 3 bytes characters.
+     * But it works for single-byte character languages.
+     */
+    public static int rawBytehash(byte[] bytes, int start) {
+        return hash(bytes, start, false, true, 31, Integer.MAX_VALUE);
+    }
+
+    public static int lowerCaseHash(byte[] bytes, int start) {
+        return hash(bytes, start, true, false, 31, Integer.MAX_VALUE);
+    }
+
+    public static StringBuilder toString(StringBuilder builder, byte[] bytes, int start) {
+        int utfLen = getUTFLength(bytes, start);
+        int offset = getNumBytesToStoreLength(utfLen);
+        while (utfLen > 0) {
+            char c = charAt(bytes, start + offset);
+            builder.append(c);
+            int cLen = getModifiedUTF8Len(c);
+            offset += cLen;
+            utfLen -= cLen;
+        }
+        return builder;
+    }
+
+    public static void printUTF8StringWithQuotes(byte[] b, int s, int l, OutputStream os) throws IOException {
+        printUTF8String(b, s, l, os, true);
+    }
+
+    public static void printUTF8StringNoQuotes(byte[] b, int s, int l, OutputStream os) throws IOException {
+        printUTF8String(b, s, l, os, false);
+    }
+
+    public static void printUTF8StringWithQuotes(String str, OutputStream os) throws IOException {
+        printUTF8String(str, os, true);
+    }
+
+    public static void printUTF8StringNoQuotes(String str, OutputStream os) throws IOException {
+        printUTF8String(str, os, false);
+    }
+
+    public static int encodeUTF8Length(int length, byte[] bytes, int start) {
+        return VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.encode(length, bytes, start);
+    }
+
+    public static int writeUTF8Length(int length, byte[] bytes, DataOutput out) throws IOException {
+        int nbytes = encodeUTF8Length(length, bytes, 0);
+        out.write(bytes, 0, nbytes);
+        return nbytes;
+    }
+
+    private static void printUTF8String(byte[] b, int s, int l, OutputStream os, boolean useQuotes) throws IOException {
+        int stringLength = getUTFLength(b, s);
+        int position = s + getNumBytesToStoreLength(stringLength);
+        int maxPosition = position + stringLength;
+        if (useQuotes) {
+            os.write('\"');
+        }
+        while (position < maxPosition) {
+            char c = charAt(b, position);
+            switch (c) {
+                // escape
+                case '\\':
+                case '"':
+                    os.write('\\');
+                    break;
+            }
+            int sz = charSize(b, position);
+            while (sz > 0) {
+                os.write(b[position]);
+                position++;
+                sz--;
+            }
+        }
+        if (useQuotes) {
+            os.write('\"');
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static void printUTF8String(String string, OutputStream os, boolean useQuotes) throws IOException {
+        if (useQuotes) {
+            os.write('\"');
+        }
+        for (int i = 0; i < string.length(); i++) {
+            char ch = string.charAt(i);
+            writeCharAsModifiedUTF8(ch, os);
+        }
+        if (useQuotes) {
+            os.write('\"');
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static int compareTo(byte[] thisBytes, int thisStart, byte[] thatBytes, int thatStart,
+            boolean useLowerCase, boolean useRawByte) {
+        int utflen1 = getUTFLength(thisBytes, thisStart);
+        int utflen2 = getUTFLength(thatBytes, thatStart);
+
+        int c1 = 0;
+        int c2 = 0;
+
+        int s1Start = thisStart + getNumBytesToStoreLength(utflen1);
+        int s2Start = thatStart + getNumBytesToStoreLength(utflen2);
+
+        while (c1 < utflen1 && c2 < utflen2) {
+            char ch1, ch2;
+            if (useRawByte) {
+                ch1 = (char) thisBytes[s1Start + c1];
+                ch2 = (char) thatBytes[s2Start + c2];
+            } else {
+                ch1 = (charAt(thisBytes, s1Start + c1));
+                ch2 = (charAt(thatBytes, s2Start + c2));
+
+                if (useLowerCase) {
+                    ch1 = Character.toLowerCase(ch1);
+                    ch2 = Character.toLowerCase(ch2);
+                }
+            }
+
+            if (ch1 != ch2) {
+                return ch1 - ch2;
+            }
+            c1 += charSize(thisBytes, s1Start + c1);
+            c2 += charSize(thatBytes, s2Start + c2);
+        }
+        return utflen1 - utflen2;
+    }
+
+    private static int hash(byte[] bytes, int start, boolean useLowerCase, boolean useRawByte, int coefficient, int r) {
+        int h = 0;
+        int utflen = getUTFLength(bytes, start);
+        int sStart = start + getNumBytesToStoreLength(utflen);
+        int c = 0;
+
+        while (c < utflen) {
+            char ch;
+            if (useRawByte) {
+                ch = (char) bytes[sStart + c];
+            } else {
+                ch = charAt(bytes, sStart + c);
+                if (useLowerCase) {
+                    ch = Character.toLowerCase(ch);
+                }
+            }
+            h = (coefficient * h + ch) % r;
+            c += charSize(bytes, sStart + c);
+        }
+        return h;
+    }
+
+    public static byte[] writeStringToBytes(String string) {
+        UTF8StringWriter writer = new UTF8StringWriter();
+        ByteArrayOutputStream bos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+        DataOutputStream dos = new DataOutputStream(bos);
+        try {
+            writer.writeUTF8(string, dos);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+        return bos.toByteArray();
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/string/UTF8StringWriter.java b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/string/UTF8StringWriter.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..021c02f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/string/UTF8StringWriter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.hyracks.util.string;
+
+import java.io.DataOutput;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.Serializable;
+
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder;
+
+public class UTF8StringWriter implements Serializable{
+    private byte[] tempBytes;
+
+    public final void writeUTF8(CharSequence str, DataOutput out) throws IOException {
+        int strlen = str.length();
+        int utflen = 0;
+        char c;
+        int count = 0;
+
+        for (int i = 0; i < strlen; i++) {
+            c = str.charAt(i);
+            utflen += UTF8StringUtil.getModifiedUTF8Len(c);
+        }
+
+        ensureTempSize(utflen);
+
+        count += VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.encode(utflen, tempBytes, count);
+
+        int i = 0;
+        for (; i < strlen; i++) {
+            c = str.charAt(i);
+            if (!((c >= 0x0001) && (c <= 0x007F))) {
+                break;
+            }
+            tempBytes[count++] = (byte) c;
+        }
+
+        for (; i < strlen; i++) {
+            c = str.charAt(i);
+            count += writeToBytes(tempBytes, count, c);
+        }
+        out.write(tempBytes, 0, count);
+    }
+
+    public final void writeUTF8(char[] buffer, int start, int length, DataOutput out) throws IOException {
+        int utflen = 0;
+        int count = 0;
+        char c;
+
+        for (int i = 0; i < length; i++) {
+            c = buffer[i + start];
+            utflen += UTF8StringUtil.getModifiedUTF8Len(c);
+        }
+
+        ensureTempSize(utflen);
+
+        count += VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.encode(utflen, tempBytes, count);
+
+        int i = 0;
+        for (; i < length; i++) {
+            c = buffer[i + start];
+            if (!((c >= 0x0001) && (c <= 0x007F))) {
+                break;
+            }
+            tempBytes[count++] = (byte) c;
+        }
+
+        for (; i < length; i++) {
+            c = buffer[i + start];
+            count += writeToBytes(tempBytes, count, c);
+        }
+        out.write(tempBytes, 0, count);
+    }
+
+    private static int writeToBytes(byte[] tempBytes, int count, char c) {
+        int orig = count;
+        if ((c >= 0x0001) && (c <= 0x007F)) {
+            tempBytes[count++] = (byte) c;
+        } else if (c > 0x07FF) {
+            tempBytes[count++] = (byte) (0xE0 | ((c >> 12) & 0x0F));
+            tempBytes[count++] = (byte) (0x80 | ((c >> 6) & 0x3F));
+            tempBytes[count++] = (byte) (0x80 | ((c >> 0) & 0x3F));
+        } else {
+            tempBytes[count++] = (byte) (0xC0 | ((c >> 6) & 0x1F));
+            tempBytes[count++] = (byte) (0x80 | ((c >> 0) & 0x3F));
+        }
+        return count - orig;
+    }
+
+    private void ensureTempSize(int utflen) {
+        if (tempBytes == null || tempBytes.length < utflen + 5) {
+            tempBytes = new byte[utflen + 5];
+        }
+
+    }
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/encoding/VarLenIntEncoderDecoderTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/encoding/VarLenIntEncoderDecoderTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..193dca6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/encoding/VarLenIntEncoderDecoderTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding;
+
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.BOUND_FIVE_BYTE;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.BOUND_FOUR_BYTE;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.BOUND_ONE_BYTE;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.BOUND_THREE_BYTE;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.BOUND_TWO_BYTE;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.VarLenIntDecoder;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.createDecoder;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.decode;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.encode;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.getBytesRequired;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.DataInputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class VarLenIntEncoderDecoderTest {
+
+    int[] bounds = new int[] { 0, BOUND_ONE_BYTE, BOUND_TWO_BYTE, BOUND_THREE_BYTE, BOUND_FOUR_BYTE, BOUND_FIVE_BYTE };
+
+    @Test
+    public void testGetBytesRequired() throws Exception {
+        for (int bound = 0; bound < bounds.length - 1; bound++) {
+            assertEquals(bound + 1, getBytesRequired(bounds[bound]));
+            assertEquals(bound + 1, getBytesRequired(bounds[bound + 1] - 1));
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testEncodeDecode() throws Exception {
+        byte[] bytes = new byte[10];
+        int startPos = 3;
+        for (int i = 1; i < bounds.length - 1; i++) {
+            testEncodeDecode(i, bounds[i] - 1, bytes, startPos);
+            testEncodeDecode(i + 1, bounds[i], bytes, startPos);
+            testEncodeDecode(i + 1, bounds[i] + 1, bytes, startPos);
+        }
+        // Integer.Max
+        testEncodeDecode(5, BOUND_FIVE_BYTE, bytes, startPos);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testCreateDecoder() throws Exception {
+        VarLenIntDecoder decoder = createDecoder();
+        byte[] bytes = new byte[100];
+        int pos = 1;
+        for (int b : bounds) {
+            pos += encode(b, bytes, pos);
+        }
+        decoder.reset(bytes, 1);
+        for (int b : bounds) {
+            assertEquals(b, decoder.decode());
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected void testEncodeDecode(int expectedBytes, int value, byte[] bytes, int startPos) throws IOException {
+        assertEquals(expectedBytes, encode(value, bytes, startPos));
+        assertEquals(value, decode(bytes, startPos));
+
+        ByteArrayInputStream bis = new ByteArrayInputStream(bytes, startPos, bytes.length - startPos);
+        DataInputStream dis = new DataInputStream(bis);
+        assertEquals(value, decode(dis));
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/string/UTF8StringReaderWriterTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/string/UTF8StringReaderWriterTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bfc1fa8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/string/UTF8StringReaderWriterTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.util.string;
+
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample.EMPTY_STRING;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_127;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_128;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_3;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_LARGE;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_LARGE_SUB_1;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_MEDIUM;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_MEDIUM_SUB_1;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample.STRING_UTF8_3;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample.STRING_UTF8_MIX;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.io.DataInputStream;
+import java.io.DataOutputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class UTF8StringReaderWriterTest {
+
+    UTF8StringWriter writer = new UTF8StringWriter();
+    UTF8StringReader reader = new UTF8StringReader();
+
+    @Test
+    public void testWriterReader() throws IOException {
+        writeAndReadOneString(EMPTY_STRING);
+        writeAndReadOneString(STRING_LEN_3);
+
+        writeAndReadOneString(STRING_LEN_127);
+        writeAndReadOneString(STRING_LEN_128);
+        writeAndReadOneString(STRING_LEN_MEDIUM_SUB_1);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testMedium() throws IOException {
+        writeAndReadOneString(STRING_LEN_MEDIUM);
+        writeAndReadOneString(STRING_LEN_LARGE_SUB_1);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testLarge() throws IOException {
+        writeAndReadOneString(STRING_LEN_LARGE);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testUTF8() throws IOException {
+        writeAndReadOneString(STRING_UTF8_3);
+        writeAndReadOneString(STRING_UTF8_MIX);
+    }
+
+    private void writeAndReadOneString(String testString) throws IOException {
+        ByteArrayOutputStream bos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+        DataOutputStream dos = new DataOutputStream(bos);
+        writer.writeUTF8(testString, dos);
+
+        ByteArrayInputStream bis = new ByteArrayInputStream(bos.toByteArray(), 0, bos.size());
+        assertEquals(testString, reader.readUTF(new DataInputStream(bis)));
+
+        int lastOffset = bos.size();
+        char[] charArray = testString.toCharArray();
+        writer.writeUTF8(charArray, 0, charArray.length, dos);
+
+        bis = new ByteArrayInputStream(bos.toByteArray(), lastOffset, bos.size());
+        assertEquals(testString, reader.readUTF(new DataInputStream(bis)));
+    }
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/string/UTF8StringSample.java b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/string/UTF8StringSample.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3e6e984
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/string/UTF8StringSample.java
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.util.string;
+
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.BOUND_THREE_BYTE;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.BOUND_TWO_BYTE;
+
+import java.util.Arrays;
+
+/**
+ * Util class to provide the sample test string
+ */
+public class UTF8StringSample {
+    public static String EMPTY_STRING = "";
+
+    public static char ONE_ASCII_CHAR = 'x';
+    public static char ONE_UTF8_CHAR = 'à';
+
+    public static String STRING_LEN_3 = "xyz";
+    public static String STRING_UTF8_3 = "锟斤拷";
+    public static String STRING_UTF8_MIX = "\uD841\uDF0E\uD841\uDF31锟X斤Y拷Zà"; // one, two, three, and four bytes
+    public static String STRING_UTF8_MIX_LOWERCASE = "\uD841\uDF0E\uD841\uDF31锟x斤y拷zà";
+
+    public static String STRING_LEN_127 = generateStringRepeatBy(ONE_ASCII_CHAR, 127);
+    public static String STRING_LEN_128 = generateStringRepeatBy(ONE_ASCII_CHAR, 128);
+
+    public static String STRING_LEN_MEDIUM_SUB_1 = generateStringRepeatBy(ONE_ASCII_CHAR, BOUND_TWO_BYTE - 1);
+    public static String STRING_LEN_MEDIUM = generateStringRepeatBy(ONE_ASCII_CHAR, BOUND_TWO_BYTE);
+
+    public static String STRING_LEN_LARGE_SUB_1 = generateStringRepeatBy(ONE_ASCII_CHAR, BOUND_THREE_BYTE - 1);
+    public static String STRING_LEN_LARGE = generateStringRepeatBy(ONE_ASCII_CHAR, BOUND_THREE_BYTE);
+
+    public static String generateStringRepeatBy(char c, int times) {
+        char[] chars = new char[times];
+        Arrays.fill(chars, c);
+        return new String(chars);
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/string/UTF8StringUtilTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/string/UTF8StringUtilTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e3ed5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/string/UTF8StringUtilTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,144 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.util.string;
+
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil.writeStringToBytes;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_127;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_128;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample.STRING_LEN_MEDIUM;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample.STRING_UTF8_3;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample.STRING_UTF8_MIX;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringSample.STRING_UTF8_MIX_LOWERCASE;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil.charAt;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil.charSize;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil.compareTo;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil.getModifiedUTF8Len;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil.getNumBytesToStoreLength;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil.getStringLength;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil.getUTFLength;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil.lowerCaseCompareTo;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil.lowerCaseHash;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil.normalize;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil.rawByteCompareTo;
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil.hash;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class UTF8StringUtilTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void testCharAtCharSizeGetLen() throws Exception {
+        char[] utf8Mix = STRING_UTF8_MIX.toCharArray();
+        byte[] buffer = writeStringToBytes(STRING_UTF8_MIX);
+        int pos = getNumBytesToStoreLength(getUTFLength(buffer, 0));
+        for (char c : utf8Mix) {
+            assertEquals(c, charAt(buffer, pos));
+            assertEquals(getModifiedUTF8Len(c), charSize(buffer, pos));
+            pos += charSize(buffer, pos);
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testGetStringLength() throws Exception {
+        byte[] buffer = writeStringToBytes(STRING_UTF8_MIX);
+        assertEquals(STRING_UTF8_MIX.length(), getStringLength(buffer, 0));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testCompareToAndNormolize() throws Exception {
+        testCompare(STRING_UTF8_MIX, STRING_UTF8_MIX, OPTION.STANDARD);
+        testCompare(STRING_UTF8_3, STRING_UTF8_MIX, OPTION.STANDARD);
+        testCompare(STRING_LEN_MEDIUM, STRING_UTF8_MIX, OPTION.STANDARD);
+    }
+
+    public boolean isSameSign(int r1, int r2) {
+        if (r1 > 0) {
+            return r2 > 0;
+        }
+        if (r1 < 0) {
+            return r2 < 0;
+        }
+        return r2 == 0;
+    }
+
+    enum OPTION {STANDARD, RAW_BYTE, LOWERCASE}
+
+    public void testCompare(String str1, String str2, OPTION option) throws IOException {
+        byte[] buffer1 = writeStringToBytes(str1);
+        byte[] buffer2 = writeStringToBytes(str2);
+
+        switch (option) {
+            case STANDARD:
+                assertEquals(str1.compareTo(str2), compareTo(buffer1, 0, buffer2, 0));
+                int n1 = normalize(buffer1, 0);
+                int n2 = normalize(buffer2, 0);
+                assertTrue(isSameSign(str1.compareTo(str2), n1 - n2));
+                break;
+            case RAW_BYTE:
+                assertEquals(str1.compareTo(str2), rawByteCompareTo(buffer1, 0, buffer2, 0));
+                break;
+            case LOWERCASE:
+                assertEquals(str1.compareToIgnoreCase(str2), lowerCaseCompareTo(buffer1, 0, buffer2, 0));
+                break;
+        }
+
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testRawByteCompareTo() throws Exception {
+        testCompare(STRING_LEN_MEDIUM, STRING_LEN_MEDIUM, OPTION.RAW_BYTE);
+        testCompare(STRING_LEN_127, STRING_LEN_128, OPTION.RAW_BYTE);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testLowerCaseCompareTo() throws Exception {
+        testCompare(STRING_LEN_127, STRING_LEN_128, OPTION.LOWERCASE);
+        testCompare(STRING_LEN_127, STRING_UTF8_MIX, OPTION.LOWERCASE);
+        testCompare(STRING_UTF8_MIX, STRING_UTF8_MIX_LOWERCASE, OPTION.LOWERCASE);
+        testCompare(STRING_UTF8_MIX_LOWERCASE, STRING_UTF8_MIX, OPTION.LOWERCASE);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testToString() throws Exception {
+
+        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+        byte[] buffer = writeStringToBytes(STRING_UTF8_MIX);
+        assertEquals(STRING_UTF8_MIX, UTF8StringUtil.toString(sb, buffer, 0).toString());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testHash() throws IOException {
+        byte[] buffer = writeStringToBytes(STRING_UTF8_MIX_LOWERCASE);
+        int lowerHash = hash(buffer, 0);
+
+        buffer = writeStringToBytes(STRING_UTF8_MIX_LOWERCASE);
+        int upperHash = lowerCaseHash(buffer, 0);
+        assertEquals(lowerHash, upperHash);
+
+        int familyOne = hash(buffer, 0, 7, 297);
+        int familyTwo = hash(buffer, 0, 8, 297);
+        assertTrue(familyOne != familyTwo);
+    }
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/pom.xml b/hyracks/pom.xml
index c1af7b9..61e06e4 100644
--- a/hyracks/pom.xml
+++ b/hyracks/pom.xml
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@
   </pluginRepositories>
 
   <modules>
+    <module>hyracks-util</module>
     <module>hyracks-ipc</module>
     <module>hyracks-api</module>
     <module>hyracks-comm</module>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 8f00aac..368ba2a 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -18,87 +18,88 @@
  !-->
 
 
-<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">
-  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
-  <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
-  <artifactId>fullstack</artifactId>
-  <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
-  <packaging>pom</packaging>
-  <name>hyracks-ecosystem-full-stack</name>
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">
+    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+    <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+    <artifactId>fullstack</artifactId>
+    <version>0.2.17-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <packaging>pom</packaging>
+    <name>hyracks-ecosystem-full-stack</name>
 
-  <parent>
-    <groupId>org.apache</groupId>
-    <artifactId>apache</artifactId>
-    <version>LATEST</version>
-  </parent>
+    <parent>
+        <groupId>org.apache</groupId>
+        <artifactId>apache</artifactId>
+        <version>LATEST</version>
+    </parent>
 
-  <licenses>
-    <license>
-      <name>Apache License, Version 2.0</name>
-      <url>http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.txt</url>
-      <distribution>repo</distribution>
-      <comments>A business-friendly OSS license</comments>
-    </license>
-  </licenses>
+    <licenses>
+        <license>
+            <name>Apache License, Version 2.0</name>
+            <url>http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.txt</url>
+            <distribution>repo</distribution>
+            <comments>A business-friendly OSS license</comments>
+        </license>
+    </licenses>
 
-  <properties>
-    <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
-    <jvm.extraargs />
-    <!-- Definition of tests in various categories which may be excluded -->
-    <hanging.pregelix.tests>**/pregelix/**/FailureRecovery*.java</hanging.pregelix.tests>
-    <jdk.version>1.8</jdk.version>
-    <hivesterix.perf.tests>**/hivesterix/perf/PerfTestSuite.java</hivesterix.perf.tests>
-    <global.test.includes>**/*TestSuite.java,**/*Test.java</global.test.includes>
-    <global.test.excludes>**/Abstract*.java,${hanging.pregelix.tests},${hivesterix.perf.tests}</global.test.excludes>
-    <!-- Versions under dependencymanagement or used in many projects via properties -->
-    <hadoop.version>2.2.0</hadoop.version>
-    <junit.version>4.8.1</junit.version>
-    <commons.io.version>2.4</commons.io.version>
-  </properties>
-  <dependencyManagement>
-    <dependencies>
-      <dependency>
-        <groupId>junit</groupId>
-        <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
-        <version>${junit.version}</version>
-      </dependency>
-          <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.apache.hadoop</groupId>
-            <artifactId>hadoop-yarn-client</artifactId>
-            <version>${hadoop.version}</version>
-          </dependency>
-          <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.apache.hadoop</groupId>
-            <artifactId>hadoop-client</artifactId>
-            <version>${hadoop.version}</version>
-          </dependency>
-          <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.apache.hadoop</groupId>
-            <artifactId>hadoop-common</artifactId>
-            <version>${hadoop.version}</version>
-          </dependency>
-          <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.apache.hadoop</groupId>
-            <artifactId>hadoop-hdfs</artifactId>
-            <version>${hadoop.version}</version>
-          </dependency>
-          <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.apache.hadoop</groupId>
-            <artifactId>hadoop-minicluster</artifactId>
-            <version>${hadoop.version}</version>
-          </dependency>
-          <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.apache.hadoop</groupId>
-            <artifactId>hadoop-mapreduce-client-core</artifactId>
-            <version>${hadoop.version}</version>
-          </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
-            <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
-            <version>${commons.io.version}</version>
-        </dependency>
-    </dependencies>
-  </dependencyManagement>
+    <properties>
+        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
+        <jvm.extraargs/>
+        <!-- Definition of tests in various categories which may be excluded -->
+        <hanging.pregelix.tests>**/pregelix/**/FailureRecovery*.java</hanging.pregelix.tests>
+        <hivesterix.perf.tests>**/hivesterix/perf/PerfTestSuite.java</hivesterix.perf.tests>
+        <global.test.includes>**/*TestSuite.java,**/*Test.java</global.test.includes>
+        <global.test.excludes>**/Abstract*.java,${hanging.pregelix.tests},${hivesterix.perf.tests}
+        </global.test.excludes>
+        <!-- Versions under dependencymanagement or used in many projects via properties -->
+        <hadoop.version>2.2.0</hadoop.version>
+        <junit.version>4.8.1</junit.version>
+        <commons.io.version>2.4</commons.io.version>
+    </properties>
+    <dependencyManagement>
+        <dependencies>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>junit</groupId>
+                <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
+                <version>${junit.version}</version>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.hadoop</groupId>
+                <artifactId>hadoop-yarn-client</artifactId>
+                <version>${hadoop.version}</version>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.hadoop</groupId>
+                <artifactId>hadoop-client</artifactId>
+                <version>${hadoop.version}</version>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.hadoop</groupId>
+                <artifactId>hadoop-common</artifactId>
+                <version>${hadoop.version}</version>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.hadoop</groupId>
+                <artifactId>hadoop-hdfs</artifactId>
+                <version>${hadoop.version}</version>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.hadoop</groupId>
+                <artifactId>hadoop-minicluster</artifactId>
+                <version>${hadoop.version}</version>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.hadoop</groupId>
+                <artifactId>hadoop-mapreduce-client-core</artifactId>
+                <version>${hadoop.version}</version>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
+                <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
+                <version>${commons.io.version}</version>
+            </dependency>
+        </dependencies>
+    </dependencyManagement>
 
   <build>
     <plugins>
@@ -167,6 +168,7 @@
            <exclude>**/*.conf</exclude>
            <exclude>**/src/main/resources/*.cleaned</exclude>
            <exclude>**/ClusterControllerService/**</exclude>
+           <exclude>**/target/**</exclude>
            <exclude>**/output/**</exclude>
            <exclude>**/*.iml</exclude>
       </excludes>