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()