diff --git a/deno2/BUILD.gn b/deno2/BUILD.gn
index d90cd9de13..37b9f85c69 100644
--- a/deno2/BUILD.gn
+++ b/deno2/BUILD.gn
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ source_set("deno_nosnapshot") {
   sources = [
     "deno.cc",
     "deno_internal.h",
+    "file_util.cc",
+    "file_util.h",
     "include/deno.h",
   ]
   include_dirs = [ "include/" ]
diff --git a/deno2/file_util.cc b/deno2/file_util.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e2c1b30496
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deno2/file_util.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+// Copyright 2018 Ryan Dahl <ry@tinyclouds.org>
+// All rights reserved. MIT License.
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <iterator>
+#include <string>
+
+#include "file_util.h"
+
+namespace deno {
+
+bool ReadFileToString(const char* fn, std::string* contents) {
+  std::ifstream file(fn, std::ios::binary);
+  contents->assign(std::istreambuf_iterator<char>{file}, {});
+  return !file.bad();
+}
+
+class StartupDataCppWriter {
+ public:
+  StartupDataCppWriter(const char* name, const char* filename,
+                       const std::string& data)
+      : name_(name),
+        filename_(filename),
+        data_(data),
+        file_(filename_, std::ios::binary) {}
+
+  bool Write() {
+    if (file_.bad()) {
+      return false;
+    }
+    WritePrefix();
+    WriteData();
+    WriteSuffix();
+
+    file_.close();
+    // printf("Wrote %s %d %s \n", name_, data_.size(), filename_);
+    return !file_.bad();
+  }
+
+ private:
+  void WritePrefix() {
+    file_ << "// Autogenerated snapshot file. Do not edit.\n\n";
+    file_ << "#include \"v8/include/v8.h\"\n\n";
+  }
+
+  void WriteSuffix() {
+    char buffer[500];
+    snprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer),
+             "const v8::StartupData* StartupBlob_%s() {\n", name_);
+    file_ << buffer;
+    snprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer), "  return &%s_blob;\n", name_);
+    file_ << buffer;
+    file_ << "}\n\n";
+  }
+
+  void WriteBinaryContentsAsCArray() {
+    char buffer[5];
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < data_.size(); i++) {
+      if ((i & 0x1F) == 0x1F) file_ << "\n";
+      if (i > 0) file_ << ",";
+      snprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer), "%u",
+               static_cast<unsigned char>(data_.at(i)));
+      file_ << buffer;
+    }
+    file_ << "\n";
+  }
+
+  void WriteData() {
+    char buffer[500];
+    snprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer), "static const char %s_blob_data[] = {\n",
+             name_);
+    file_ << buffer;
+    WriteBinaryContentsAsCArray();
+    file_ << "};\n";
+    snprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer), "static const int %s_blob_size = %ld;\n",
+             name_, data_.size());
+    file_ << buffer;
+    snprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer), "static const v8::StartupData %s_blob =\n",
+             name_);
+    file_ << buffer;
+    snprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer),
+             "{ (const char*) %s_blob_data, %s_blob_size };\n", name_, name_);
+    file_ << buffer;
+  }
+
+  const char* name_;
+  const char* filename_;
+  std::string data_;
+  std::ofstream file_;
+};
+
+bool WriteDataAsCpp(const char* name, const char* filename,
+                    const std::string& data) {
+  StartupDataCppWriter writer(name, filename, data);
+  return writer.Write();
+}
+
+}  // namespace deno
diff --git a/deno2/file_util.h b/deno2/file_util.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..87e39299d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deno2/file_util.h
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+// Copyright 2018 Ryan Dahl <ry@tinyclouds.org>
+// All rights reserved. MIT License.
+#ifndef FILE_UTIL_H_
+#define FILE_UTIL_H_
+
+#include <string>
+
+namespace deno {
+bool WriteDataAsCpp(const char* name, const char* filename,
+                    const std::string& data);
+bool ReadFileToString(const char* fn, std::string* contents);
+}  // namespace deno
+
+#endif  // FILE_UTIL_H_
diff --git a/deno2/snapshot_creator.cc b/deno2/snapshot_creator.cc
index 10ddc15002..481c657cc6 100644
--- a/deno2/snapshot_creator.cc
+++ b/deno2/snapshot_creator.cc
@@ -1,148 +1,47 @@
 // Copyright 2018 Ryan Dahl <ry@tinyclouds.org>
 // All rights reserved. MIT License.
 // Hint: --trace_serializer is a useful debugging flag.
-#include <assert.h>
-#include <stdio.h>
-#include <string.h>
-#include <fstream>
-#include <iterator>
-#include <vector>
-
-#include "v8/include/v8.h"
-
-#include "./deno_internal.h"
+#include "deno_internal.h"
+#include "file_util.h"
 #include "include/deno.h"
+#include "v8/include/v8.h"
+#include "v8/src/base/logging.h"
 
-class StartupDataCppWriter {
- public:
-  StartupDataCppWriter(const char* name, const char* filename,
-                       v8::StartupData sd)
-      : name_(name),
-        filename_(filename),
-        sd_(sd),
-        file_(filename_, std::ios::binary) {}
-
-  void Write() {
-    WritePrefix();
-    WriteData();
-    WriteSuffix();
-
-    file_.close();
-    if (file_.bad()) {
-      printf("Unable to open file \"%s\" for writing.\n", filename_);
-      exit(1);
-    }
-    // printf("Wrote %s %d %s \n", name_, sd_.raw_size, filename_);
-  }
-
- private:
-  void WritePrefix() {
-    file_ << "// Autogenerated snapshot file. Do not edit.\n\n";
-    file_ << "#include \"v8/include/v8.h\"\n\n";
-  }
-
-  void WriteSuffix() {
-    char buffer[500];
-    snprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer),
-             "const v8::StartupData* StartupBlob_%s() {\n", name_);
-    file_ << buffer;
-    snprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer), "  return &%s_blob;\n", name_);
-    file_ << buffer;
-    file_ << "}\n\n";
-  }
-
-  void WriteBinaryContentsAsCArray() {
-    char buffer[5];
-    for (int i = 0; i < sd_.raw_size; i++) {
-      if ((i & 0x1F) == 0x1F) file_ << "\n";
-      if (i > 0) file_ << ",";
-      snprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer), "%u",
-               static_cast<unsigned char>(sd_.data[i]));
-      file_ << buffer;
-    }
-    file_ << "\n";
-  }
-
-  void WriteData() {
-    char buffer[500];
-    snprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer), "static const char %s_blob_data[] = {\n",
-             name_);
-    file_ << buffer;
-    WriteBinaryContentsAsCArray();
-    file_ << "};\n";
-    snprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer), "static const int %s_blob_size = %d;\n",
-             name_, sd_.raw_size);
-    file_ << buffer;
-    snprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer), "static const v8::StartupData %s_blob =\n",
-             name_);
-    file_ << buffer;
-    snprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer),
-             "{ (const char*) %s_blob_data, %s_blob_size };\n", name_, name_);
-    file_ << buffer;
-  }
-
-  const char* name_;
-  const char* filename_;
-  v8::StartupData sd_;
-  std::ofstream file_;
-};
-
-// Caller must free returned value.
-static v8::StartupData ReadFile(const char* fn) {
-  std::ifstream input(fn, std::ios::binary);
-  if (input.bad()) {
-    printf("Error reading %s\n", fn);
-    exit(1);
-  }
-  // Note the allocated buffer is intentionally not freed in this program.
-  // It may show up as a memory leak some day, but other than that it's
-  // harmless.
-  auto* buffer = new std::vector<char>((std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(input)),
-                                       (std::istreambuf_iterator<char>()));
-  v8::StartupData sd;
-  sd.data = buffer->data();
-  sd.raw_size = static_cast<int>(buffer->size());
-  if (input.bad()) {
-    printf("Error reading %s\n", fn);
-    exit(1);
-  }
-  return sd;
-}
-
-void WriteFile(const char* fn, v8::StartupData startup_data) {
-  std::ofstream output(fn, std::ios::binary);
-  output.write(startup_data.data, startup_data.raw_size);
-  output.close();
-  if (output.bad()) {
-    printf("Error writing %s\n", fn);
-    exit(1);
-  }
+v8::StartupData StringToStartupData(const std::string& s) {
+  return v8::StartupData{s.c_str(), s.size()};
 }
 
 int main(int argc, char** argv) {
-  // The only documentation for this programs arguments is right here.
   const char* js_fn = argv[1];
   const char* natives_in_bin = argv[2];
   const char* snapshot_in_bin = argv[3];
   const char* natives_out_cc = argv[4];
   const char* snapshot_out_cc = argv[5];
 
+  CHECK_NE(js_fn, nullptr);
+  CHECK_NE(natives_in_bin, nullptr);
+  CHECK_NE(snapshot_in_bin, nullptr);
+  CHECK_NE(natives_out_cc, nullptr);
+  CHECK_NE(snapshot_out_cc, nullptr);
+
   v8::V8::SetFlagsFromCommandLine(&argc, argv, true);
 
-  auto js_data = ReadFile(js_fn);
-  // Ensure js_source is null-terminated.
-  std::string js_source(js_data.data, js_data.raw_size);
-  auto natives_blob = ReadFile(natives_in_bin);
-  auto snapshot_in_blob = ReadFile(snapshot_in_bin);
+  std::string js_source;
+  CHECK(deno::ReadFileToString(js_fn, &js_source));
+
+  std::string natives_str;
+  CHECK(deno::ReadFileToString(natives_in_bin, &natives_str));
+  auto natives_blob = StringToStartupData(natives_str);
+
+  std::string snapshot_in_str;
+  CHECK(deno::ReadFileToString(snapshot_in_bin, &snapshot_in_str));
+  auto snapshot_in_blob = StringToStartupData(snapshot_in_str);
 
   deno_init();
   auto snapshot_blob = deno::MakeSnapshot(&natives_blob, &snapshot_in_blob,
                                           js_fn, js_source.c_str());
+  std::string snapshot_str(snapshot_blob.data, snapshot_blob.raw_size);
 
-  StartupDataCppWriter nativesWriter("natives", natives_out_cc, natives_blob);
-  nativesWriter.Write();
-
-  StartupDataCppWriter snapshotWriter("snapshot", snapshot_out_cc,
-                                      snapshot_blob);
-  snapshotWriter.Write();
+  CHECK(deno::WriteDataAsCpp("natives", natives_out_cc, natives_str));
+  CHECK(deno::WriteDataAsCpp("snapshot", snapshot_out_cc, snapshot_str));
 }