diff --git a/src/formula/ProbabilisticOperator.h b/src/formula/ProbabilisticOperator.h
index 622c2effc..4b87ce869 100644
--- a/src/formula/ProbabilisticOperator.h
+++ b/src/formula/ProbabilisticOperator.h
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 #include "PCTLStateFormula.h"
 #include "PCTLPathFormula.h"
-#include "misc/const_templates.h"
+#include "utility/const_templates.h"
 
 namespace mrmc {
 
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@ public:
 	 * Empty constructor
 	 */
 	ProbabilisticOperator() {
-		upper = mrmc::misc::constGetZero(&upper);
-		lower = mrmc::misc::constGetZero(&lower);
+		upper = mrmc::utility::constGetZero(upper);
+		lower = mrmc::utility::constGetZero(lower);
 		pathFormula = NULL;
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/storage/SquareSparseMatrix.h b/src/storage/SquareSparseMatrix.h
index fd9c0b904..02cdec904 100644
--- a/src/storage/SquareSparseMatrix.h
+++ b/src/storage/SquareSparseMatrix.h
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 #include "src/exceptions/file_IO_exception.h"
 #include "src/storage/BitVector.h"
 
-#include "src/misc/const_templates.h"
+#include "src/utility/const_templates.h"
 #include "Eigen/Sparse"
 #include "gmm/gmm_matrix.h"
 
@@ -658,12 +658,12 @@ public:
 		uint_fast64_t rowEnd = rowIndications[row + 1];
 
 		while (rowStart < rowEnd) {
-			valueStorage[rowStart] = mrmc::misc::constGetZero(valueStorage);
+			valueStorage[rowStart] = mrmc::utility::constGetZero(valueStorage[rowStart]);
 			++rowStart;
 		}
 
 		// Set the element on the diagonal to one.
-		diagonalStorage[row] = mrmc::misc::constGetOne(diagonalStorage);
+		diagonalStorage[row] = mrmc::utility::constGetOne(diagonalStorage[row]);
 		return true;
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/misc/const_templates.h b/src/utility/const_templates.h
similarity index 66%
rename from src/misc/const_templates.h
rename to src/utility/const_templates.h
index aeedf7632..0261cdecc 100644
--- a/src/misc/const_templates.h
+++ b/src/utility/const_templates.h
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 namespace mrmc {
 
-namespace misc {
+namespace utility {
 
 /*!
  * Returns a constant value of 0 that is fit to the type it is being written to.
@@ -19,20 +19,19 @@ namespace misc {
  *
  * <b>Parameter</b>
  *
- * The parameter is a pointer which is used to infer the return type (So, if you want
- * the return value to be of type double, the parameter has to be of type double*).
- * In most cases, it is a good choice to use the address of the variable that is to be
- * set.
+ * The parameter is a reference which is used to infer the return type (So, if you want
+ * the return value to be of type double, the parameter has to be a double variable).
+ * In most cases, it is a good choice to use the the variable that is to be set.
  */
 template<typename _Scalar>
-static inline _Scalar constGetZero(_Scalar*) {
+static inline _Scalar constGetZero(_Scalar&) {
    return _Scalar(0);
 }
 
 /*! @cond TEMPLATE_SPECIALIZATION
  * (exclude the specializations from the documentation) */
 template <>
-inline int_fast32_t constGetZero(int_fast32_t*) {
+inline int_fast32_t constGetZero(int_fast32_t&) {
    return 0;
 }
 
@@ -40,7 +39,7 @@ inline int_fast32_t constGetZero(int_fast32_t*) {
  * Specialization of constGetZero for int_fast32_t
  */
 template <>
-inline double constGetZero(double*) {
+inline double constGetZero(double&) {
    return 0.0;
 }
 /*! @endcond */
@@ -52,30 +51,28 @@ inline double constGetZero(double*) {
  *
  * <b>Parameter</b>
  *
- * The parameter is a pointer which is used to infer the return type (So, if you want
- * the return value to be of type double, the parameter has to be of type double*).
- * In most cases, it is a good choice to use the address of the variable that is to be
- * set.
- */
+ * The parameter is a reference which is used to infer the return type (So, if you want
+ * the return value to be of type double, the parameter has to be a double variable).
+ * In most cases, it is a good choice to use the the variable that is to be set. */
 template<typename _Scalar>
-static inline _Scalar constGetOne(_Scalar*) {
+static inline _Scalar constGetOne(_Scalar&) {
    return _Scalar(1);
 }
 
 /*! @cond TEMPLATE_SPECIALIZATION
  * (exclude the specializations from the documentation) */
 template<>
-inline int_fast32_t constGetOne(int_fast32_t*) {
+inline int_fast32_t constGetOne(int_fast32_t&) {
    return 1;
 }
 
 template<>
-inline double constGetOne(double*) {
+inline double constGetOne(double&) {
    return 1.0;
 }
 /*! @endcond */
 
-} //namespace misc
+} //namespace utility
 
 } //namespace mrmc
 
diff --git a/src/utility/utility.cpp b/src/utility/ioUtility.cpp
similarity index 97%
rename from src/utility/utility.cpp
rename to src/utility/ioUtility.cpp
index e2ef43833..6a9a0808f 100644
--- a/src/utility/utility.cpp
+++ b/src/utility/ioUtility.cpp
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 /*
- * utility.cpp
+ * ioUtility.cpp
  *
  *  Created on: 17.10.2012
  *      Author: Thomas Heinemann
  */
 
-#include "src/utility/utility.h"
+#include "src/utility/ioUtility.h"
 #include "src/parser/readTraFile.h"
 #include "src/parser/readLabFile.h"
 
diff --git a/src/utility/utility.h b/src/utility/ioUtility.h
similarity index 98%
rename from src/utility/utility.h
rename to src/utility/ioUtility.h
index ebfa964b7..04a389a1d 100644
--- a/src/utility/utility.h
+++ b/src/utility/ioUtility.h
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * utility.h
+ * ioUtility.h
  *
  *  Created on: 17.10.2012
  *      Author: Thomas Heinemann
diff --git a/test/parser/parse_dtmc_test.cpp b/test/parser/parse_dtmc_test.cpp
index e89ec331e..239ba735f 100644
--- a/test/parser/parse_dtmc_test.cpp
+++ b/test/parser/parse_dtmc_test.cpp
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 #include "gtest/gtest.h"
 #include "mrmc-config.h"
-#include "src/utility/utility.h"
+#include "src/utility/ioUtility.h"
 
 TEST(ParseDtmcTest, parseAndOutput) {
 	mrmc::models::Dtmc<double>* myDtmc;
diff --git a/test/parser/read_tra_file_test.cpp b/test/parser/read_tra_file_test.cpp
index d8cf64c8e..5e8e230f8 100644
--- a/test/parser/read_tra_file_test.cpp
+++ b/test/parser/read_tra_file_test.cpp
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 #include "src/exceptions/file_IO_exception.h"
 #include "src/exceptions/wrong_file_format.h"
 
-#include "src/utility/utility.h"
+#include "src/utility/ioUtility.h"
 
 TEST(ReadTraFileTest, NonExistingFileTest) {
    //No matter what happens, please don't create a file with the name "nonExistingFile.not"! :-)