diff --git a/src/apexParsing/apexParser.js b/src/apexParsing/apexParser.js
index 3327cf7..63e33fc 100644
--- a/src/apexParsing/apexParser.js
+++ b/src/apexParsing/apexParser.js
@@ -3,11 +3,13 @@ const fs = require('fs');
 const ClassModel = require('../apexmodels/classModel.js');
 const MethodModel = require('../apexmodels/methodModel.js');
 const PropertyModel = require('../apexmodels/propertyModel.js');
+const StringUtils = require('../utils/stringUtils');
 
 class ApexParser {
     constructor(accessModifiers,sourceDirectory) {
         this.accessModifiers = accessModifiers;
         this.sourceDirectory = sourceDirectory;
+        this.stringUtils = new StringUtils();
     }
 
     parseFileContents(filePath) {
@@ -93,8 +95,8 @@ class ApexParser {
                 }
 
                 // keep track of our nesting so we know which class we are in
-                let openCurlies = this.countChars(strLine, '{');
-                let closeCurlies = this.countChars(strLine, '}');
+                let openCurlies = this.stringUtils.countChars(strLine, '{');
+                let closeCurlies = this.stringUtils.countChars(strLine, '}');
                 nestedCurlyBraceDepth += openCurlies;
                 nestedCurlyBraceDepth -= closeCurlies;
 
@@ -123,7 +125,7 @@ class ApexParser {
                 }
 
                 // ignore lines not dealing with scope
-                if (!this.strContainsScope(strLine) &&
+                if (!this.stringUtils.getMatchingSubstring(strLine, this.accessModifiers) &&
                         // interface methods don't have scope
                     !(cModel &&
                         cModel.getIsInterface()
@@ -416,52 +418,6 @@ class ApexParser {
             }
         });
     }
-
-    strPrevWord(str, iSearch) {
-        if (!str || iSearch >= str.length) {
-            return null;
-        }
-
-        let iStart;
-        let iEnd = 0;
-        for (iStart = iSearch - 1; iStart >= 0; iStart--) {
-            if (iEnd === 0) {
-                if (str.charAt(iStart) === ' ') {
-                    continue;
-                }
-                iEnd = iStart + 1;
-            } else if (str.charAt(iStart) === ' ') {
-                iStart++;
-                break;
-            }
-        }
-
-        if (iStart === -1) {
-            return null;
-        } else {
-            return str.substring(iStart, iEnd);
-        }
-    }
-
-    countChars(str, ch) {
-        let count = 0;
-        for (let i = 0; i < str.length; ++i) {
-            if (str.charAt(i) === ch) {
-                ++count;
-            }
-        }
-        return count;
-    }
-
-    strContainsScope(str) {
-        str = str.toLowerCase();
-        for (let i = 0; i < this.accessModifiers.length; i++) {
-            if (str.toLowerCase().includes(this.accessModifiers[i].toLowerCase() + " ")) {
-                return this.accessModifiers[i];
-            }
-        }
-        return null;
-    }
 }
 
 module.exports = ApexParser;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/apexmodels/apexModel.js b/src/apexmodels/apexModel.js
index 69c95b0..4519a30 100644
--- a/src/apexmodels/apexModel.js
+++ b/src/apexmodels/apexModel.js
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
+const StringUtils = require('../utils/stringUtils');
+
 class ApexModel {
     constructor(accessModifiers) {
         this.accessModifiers = accessModifiers;
+        this.stringUtils = new StringUtils();
     }
 
     getNameLine() {
@@ -18,7 +21,7 @@ class ApexModel {
     }
 
     getDescription() {
-        return this.getValueOrEmptyString(this.description);
+        return this.stringUtils.getValueOrEmptyString(this.description);
     }
 
     setDescription(description) {
@@ -26,7 +29,7 @@ class ApexModel {
     }
 
     getAuthor() {
-        return this.getValueOrEmptyString(this.author);
+        return this.stringUtils.getValueOrEmptyString(this.author);
     }
 
     setAuthor(author) {
@@ -34,7 +37,7 @@ class ApexModel {
     }
 
     getDate() {
-        return this.getValueOrEmptyString(this.date);
+        return this.stringUtils.getValueOrEmptyString(this.date);
     }
 
     setDate(date) {
@@ -42,7 +45,7 @@ class ApexModel {
     }
 
     getReturns() {
-        return this.getValueOrEmptyString(this.returns);
+        return this.stringUtils.getValueOrEmptyString(this.returns);
     }
 
     setReturns(returns) {
@@ -50,7 +53,7 @@ class ApexModel {
     }
 
     getExample() {
-        return this.getValueOrEmptyString(this.example);
+        return this.stringUtils.getValueOrEmptyString(this.example);
     }
 
     setExample(example) {
@@ -58,42 +61,24 @@ class ApexModel {
     }
 
     getScope() {
-        return this.getValueOrEmptyString(this.scope);
+        return this.stringUtils.getValueOrEmptyString(this.scope);
     }
 
     setScope(scope) {
         this.scope = scope;
     }
 
-    getValueOrEmptyString(value) {
-        if(!value) {
-            return '';
-        }
-
-        return value;
-    }
-
     parseScope() {
         this.scope = null;
 
         if(this.nameLine) {
-            let str = this.strContainsScope(this.nameLine);
+            let str = this.stringUtils.getMatchingSubstring(this.nameLine, this.accessModifiers);
             if (str) {
                 this.scope = str;
             }
             this.scope = this.nameLine;
         }
     }
-
-    strContainsScope(str) {
-        str = str.toLowerCase();
-        for (let i = 0; i < this.accessModifiers.length; i++) {
-            if (str.toLowerCase().includes(this.accessModifiers[i].toLowerCase() + " ")) {
-                return this.accessModifiers[i];
-            }
-        }
-        return null;
-    }
 }
 
 module.exports = ApexModel;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/apexmodels/methodModel.js b/src/apexmodels/methodModel.js
index a96594c..1ec66e9 100644
--- a/src/apexmodels/methodModel.js
+++ b/src/apexmodels/methodModel.js
@@ -39,38 +39,12 @@ class MethodModel extends ApexModel {
         if (nameLine && nameLine.length > 0) {
             const lastindex = nameLine.indexOf("(");
             if (lastindex >= 0) {
-                const methodName = this.strPrevWord(nameLine, lastindex);
+                const methodName = this.stringUtils.getPrevWord(nameLine, lastindex);
                 return methodName;
             }
         }
         return "";
     }
-
-    strPrevWord(str, iSearch) {
-        if (!str || iSearch >= str.length) {
-            return null;
-        }
-
-        let iStart;
-        let iEnd = 0;
-        for (iStart = iSearch - 1; iStart >= 0; iStart--) {
-            if (iEnd === 0) {
-                if (str.charAt(iStart) === ' ') {
-                    continue;
-                }
-                iEnd = iStart + 1;
-            } else if (str.charAt(iStart) === ' ') {
-                iStart++;
-                break;
-            }
-        }
-
-        if (iStart === -1) {
-            return null;
-        } else {
-            return str.substring(iStart, iEnd);
-        }
-    }
 }
 
 module.exports = MethodModel;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/utils/stringUtils.js b/src/utils/stringUtils.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e45293b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/stringUtils.js
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+class StringUtils {
+
+    /**
+     * @summary
+     * Returns an empty string if its a null-ish value, otherwise returns
+     * the original string.
+     * 
+     * @param {string} str 
+     */
+    getValueOrEmptyString(str) {
+        return str ? str : '';
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @summary
+     * Returns the previous word just before a given index in a string.
+     * 
+     * @param {string} str 
+     * @param {number} iSearch 
+     */
+    getPrevWord(str, iSearch) {
+        if (!str || iSearch >= str.length) return null;
+        let iStart = 0, iEnd = 0;
+        for (iStart = iSearch - 1; iStart >= 0; iStart--) {
+            if (iEnd === 0) {
+                if (str.charAt(iStart) === ' ') continue;
+                iEnd = iStart + 1;
+            }
+            else if (str.charAt(iStart) === ' ') {
+                iStart++;
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return iStart < 0 ? null : str.substring(iStart, iEnd);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @summary
+     * Fairly obvious, counts the number of times a character occurs
+     * in a string.
+     * 
+     * @param {string} str 
+     * @param {string} ch 
+     */
+    countChars(str, ch) {
+        let count = 0;
+        for (let i = 0; i < str.length; ++i) {
+            if (str.charAt(i) === ch) {
+                ++count;
+            }
+        }
+        return count;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @summary
+     * Does a case-insensitive match to check if any of the options exist
+     * in the original string. It returns the string that exists, if any.
+     * Otherwise it returns null.
+     * 
+     * @param {string} str 
+     * @param {string[]} options 
+     */
+    getMatchingSubstring(str, options) {
+        const s = str.toLowerCase();
+        for (let i = 0; i < options.length; i++) {
+            if (s.includes(options[i].toLowerCase() + " ")) {
+                return options[i];
+            }
+        }
+        return null;
+    }
+}
+
+module.exports = StringUtils;
\ No newline at end of file