diff --git a/PLANNING.md b/PLANNING.md
index 352713f..5160077 100644
--- a/PLANNING.md
+++ b/PLANNING.md
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
  1.  [Introduction](#introduction)
  2.  [TODO](#todo)
+    1. [Security Ramblings](#security-ramblings)
  3.  [C++ Language](#c-language-library-lang)
  4.  [Math Library](#math-library-math)
  5.  [Memory Library](#memory-library-memory)
@@ -62,6 +63,41 @@ This however can be achieved using events at different stages of those engines t
  - 2D Physics (`physics2d`)
  - 2D & 3D Audio (`audio`)
 
+### Security Ramblings:
+
+Windows is starting to piss me off, so I am considering dropping official support for MSVC. MinGW and Cygwin
+will still work for compiling on Windows if this ends up being the case. The reason for this is that there are
+*a lot* of platform dependent security issues. MinGW and Cygwin wrap Linux and glibc headers for Windows, which would 
+push the security onus onto the compiler and end-user.
+
+The biggest blocker at the moment in terms of this is the filesystem. If we want to implement a filesystem that
+is safe across platforms, stdc++ *and* iso libc have no guarantees about the safety of their functions.
+
+The crux of this issue falls at the following specific behaviour:
+ - User selects an existing file to write to
+ - Application interface confirms overwrite action
+ - Application writes to the file after confirmation
+
+A threat actor can introduce a malicious file or symlink to the file that was attempted access between the check and
+usage of the file. This is called TOCTOU (time of check, time of use).
+
+This issue can be solved using `fopen("<file>", "w+")`, however this specific behaviour is not intuitive to those first
+learning how to work with file systems. We can attempt to abstract this away with another wrapper, or simply write
+the file structure to handle this behaviour properly. The downside to this method overall is that it will break
+common conventions of how humans interpret filesystems and the related control flow logic. What we can do is force the
+`'+'` flag to always be present for write operations, and raise an error, when desired, if the file is not empty. This
+unfortunately would have the downside of being unable to open a file as write only.
+
+Using `"wx"` in this instance would not be sufficient since it would require a second call to fopen, which would
+create the conditions for the TOCTOU error described above.
+
+Another issue arises when we are parsing a directory tree. The best we can do is take ownership of the directory that
+is opened as the root. However, this requires `dirent.h` which is not implemented in MSVC. A  custom implementation of 
+`dirent.h` may be written for MSVC, however this is one of the few things I am not willing to outsource to another 
+library. Developing our own implementation would take a non-insignificant amount of time, between writing the library, 
+debugging it, and testing for vulnerabilities. As stated above, this implementation is native to MinGW and Cygwin, 
+so we would not have to entirely drop support for Windows. However, MSVC is the most widely used compiler for Windows 
+applications and is native to Visual Studio and VSCode.
 
 
 
diff --git a/conv/GNUCodingStandards.pdf b/conv/GNUCodingStandards.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..10cc8ad
Binary files /dev/null and b/conv/GNUCodingStandards.pdf differ
diff --git a/include/fennec/fproc/filesystem/path.h b/include/fennec/fproc/filesystem/path.h
deleted file mode 100644
index b55a368..0000000
--- a/include/fennec/fproc/filesystem/path.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,113 +0,0 @@
-// =====================================================================================================================
-//  fennec, a free and open source game engine
-//  Copyright © 2025  Medusa Slockbower
-//
-//  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
-//  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
-//  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
-//  (at your option) any later version.
-//
-//  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
-//  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
-//  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
-//  GNU General Public License for more details.
-//
-//  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
-//  along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-// =====================================================================================================================
-
-#ifndef FENNEC_FPROC_FILESYSTEM_PATH_H
-#define FENNEC_FPROC_FILESYSTEM_PATH_H
-#include <fennec/fproc/strings/string.h>
-
-namespace fennec
-{
-
-struct path
-{
-public:
-	using string_t = fennec::string;
-
-	///
-	/// \brief Helper function for getting the file separator for the current system
-	/// \returns A character containing the file separator
-	static constexpr char preferred_separator() {
-#if defined(_WIN32) || defined(_WIN64)
-		return '\\';
-#else
-		return '/';
-#endif
-	}
-
-	///
-	/// \brief Default Constructor, initializes empty path
-	constexpr path()
-	: _str(), _file(0), _parent(0) {
-	}
-
-	///
-	/// \brief
-	/// \param str
-	constexpr path(const cstring& str)
-	: _str(str) {
-		_find_paths();
-	}
-
-	constexpr path(const string& str)
-	: _str(str) {
-		_find_paths();
-	}
-
-	constexpr path(string&& str)
-	: _str(fennec::forward<string_t>(str)) {
-		_find_paths();
-	}
-
-	constexpr path(const path& path)
-	: _str(path._str) {
-		_find_paths();
-	}
-
-	constexpr path(path&& path) noexcept
-		: _str(fennec::move(path._str)) {
-		_find_paths();
-	}
-
-	constexpr const string_t& string() const {
-		return _str;
-	}
-
-	constexpr path parent() const {
-		return _str.substring(0, _file);
-	}
-
-
-	constexpr path operator/(const cstring& file) const {
-		path res = _str + file;
-		return res;
-	}
-
-	constexpr path operator/(const string_t& file) const {
-		path res = _str + file;
-		return res;
-	}
-
-	constexpr path operator/(const path& file) const {
-		path res = _str + file._str;
-		return res;
-	}
-
-private:
-	constexpr void _find_paths() {
-		_file = _str.rfind(preferred_separator());
-		_parent = _str.rfind(preferred_separator(), _file - 1);
-	}
-
-	string_t _str;
-	size_t _file
-			, _parent;
-};
-
-}
-
-#endif // FENNEC_FPROC_FILESYSTEM_PATH_H
diff --git a/include/fennec/fproc/io/file.h b/include/fennec/fproc/io/file.h
index d450175..a8e6cf9 100644
--- a/include/fennec/fproc/io/file.h
+++ b/include/fennec/fproc/io/file.h
@@ -21,28 +21,45 @@
 
 #include <fennec/fproc/strings/cstring.h>
 #include <fennec/fproc/strings/string.h>
+#include <fennec/fproc/filesystem/path.h>
 
 struct FILE;
 
 namespace fennec
 {
 
+///
+/// \brief Mode flags for opening a file
+enum fmode : uint8_t
+{
+	read         = 0b00000001
+,	write        = 0b00000010
+,	append       = 0b00000100
+,	no_overwrite = 0b00001000
+};
+
 class file
 {
 public:
 	file();
 	~file();
 
-	file(const cstring& filename, const cstring& mode);
-	file(const string&  filename, const cstring& mode);
+	///
+	/// \brief Opens a file at the provided path using the provided mode
+	/// \param path the path to the provided file
+	/// \param mode the flags for opening the file
+	file(const cstring& path, fmode mode);
+	file(const string&  path, fmode mode);
+	file(const path&    path, fmode mode);
 
 	file(const file&) = delete;
 
 
 // File Access =========================================================================================================
 
-	void open(const cstring& filename, const cstring& mode);
-	void open(const string&  filename, const cstring& mode);
+	void open(const cstring& filename, fmode mode);
+	void open(const string&  filename, fmode mode);
+	void open(const path&    filename, fmode mode);
 	void close();
 	void commit();
 
diff --git a/include/fennec/fproc/strings/cstring.h b/include/fennec/fproc/strings/cstring.h
index b113eb4..44c8233 100644
--- a/include/fennec/fproc/strings/cstring.h
+++ b/include/fennec/fproc/strings/cstring.h
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ using ::toupper;
 struct cstring
 {
 public:
+	static constexpr size_t npos = -1;
 
 // Constructors ========================================================================================================
 
@@ -196,21 +197,31 @@ public:
 
 	///
 	/// \returns The length of the string to the first null-terminator
-	constexpr size_t length() const
-		{ return find('\0'); }
+	constexpr size_t length() const {
+		return find('\0');
+	}
 
 	///
 	/// \brief String Comparison
-	/// \param ostr the string to compare against
+	/// \param str the string to compare against
 	/// \returns Zero if both strings are equal, otherwise a negative value if lhs appears before rhs according to the
 	///          current locale, otherwise a positive value.
-	constexpr int compare(const cstring& str, size_t i = 0) const {
-		if (i >= _size) return -1;
-		return ::strcoll(_cstr + i, str);
+	constexpr int compare(const cstring& str, size_t i = 0, size_t n = npos) const {
+		if (i >= _size) {
+			return -1;
+		}
+
+		n = min(n, max(_size, str._size) + 1);
+		return ::strncmp(_cstr + i, str, n);
 	}
 
-	constexpr bool operator==(const cstring& str) const
-		{ return compare(str) == 0; }
+	///
+	/// \brief String Equality
+	/// \param str the string to compare against
+	/// \returns True if all characters are equal, false otherwise
+	constexpr bool operator==(const cstring& str) const {
+		return compare(str) == 0;
+	}
 
 	///
 	/// \brief Finds the index of the first occurrence of `c` in the string
@@ -218,7 +229,10 @@ public:
 	/// \param i the index to start at
 	/// \returns The index of `c` if it occurs in the string, otherwise returns `size()`
 	constexpr size_t find(char c, size_t i = 0) const {
-		if (i >= _size) return _size; // bounds check
+		if (i >= _size) { // bounds check
+			return _size;
+		}
+
 		const char* loc = ::strchr(_cstr + i, c); // get location using strchr
 		return loc ? loc - _cstr : _size; // return size if not found
 	}
@@ -229,7 +243,10 @@ public:
 	/// \param i the index to start at
 	/// \returns The index of `str` if it occurs in the string, otherwise returns `size()`
 	constexpr size_t find(const cstring& str, size_t i = 0) const {
-		if (i + str._size > _size) return _size; // bounds check
+		if (i + str._size > _size) { // bounds check
+			return _size;
+		}
+
 		const char* loc = ::strstr(_cstr + i, str); // get location using strstr
 		return loc ? loc - _cstr : _size; // return size if not found
 	}
@@ -239,8 +256,11 @@ public:
 	/// \param c the string to find
 	/// \param i the index to start at
 	/// \returns The index of `c` if it occurs in the string, otherwise returns `size()`
-	constexpr size_t rfind(char c, size_t i = 0) const {
-		if (_size == 0) return _size;
+	constexpr size_t rfind(char c, size_t i = npos) const {
+		if (_size == 0) {
+			return _size;
+		}
+
 		i = min(i, _size - 1); // clamp i to bounds
 		do {
 			if (_cstr[i] == c) return i; // loop backwards looking for c
@@ -253,12 +273,19 @@ public:
 	/// \param str the string to find
 	/// \param i the index to start at
 	/// \returns The index of `str` if it occurs in the string, otherwise returns `size()`
-	constexpr size_t rfind(const cstring& str, size_t i = 0) const {
+	constexpr size_t rfind(const cstring& str, size_t i = npos) const {
+		if (_size == 0) {
+			return _size;
+		}
+
 		const char first = str[0];
 		i = min(i, _size - str._size);
 		do {
-			if(_cstr[i] == first)
-				if (compare(str, i) == 0) return i; // loop backwards looking for str
+			if(_cstr[i] == first) {
+				if (compare(str, i, str._size - 1) == 0) {
+					return i;
+				}
+			} // loop backwards looking for str
 		} while (i--);
 		return _size; // base case
 	}
diff --git a/include/fennec/fproc/strings/string.h b/include/fennec/fproc/strings/string.h
index c8c08b0..70e2eca 100644
--- a/include/fennec/fproc/strings/string.h
+++ b/include/fennec/fproc/strings/string.h
@@ -19,13 +19,16 @@
 #ifndef FENNEC_FPROC_STRINGS_STRING_H
 #define FENNEC_FPROC_STRINGS_STRING_H
 
-#include <fennec/fproc/strings/cstring.h>
 #include <fennec/fproc/strings/detail/__ctype.h>
+#include <fennec/fproc/strings/cstring.h>
 
 #include <fennec/lang/assert.h>
+
 #include <fennec/memory/allocator.h>
 #include <fennec/memory/common.h>
 
+#include <fennec/math/common.h>
+
 namespace fennec
 {
 
@@ -43,6 +46,7 @@ template<typename AllocT = allocator<char>>
 struct _string
 {
 public:
+	static constexpr size_t npos = -1;
 	using alloc_t = allocation<char, AllocT>;
 
 
@@ -139,7 +143,8 @@ public:
 	///
 	/// \brief Implicit Dereference Cast
 	constexpr operator const char*() const {
-		return _str; }
+		return _str;
+	}
 
 
 // Examination =========================================================================================================
@@ -155,24 +160,37 @@ public:
 	/// \param ostr the string to compare against
 	/// \returns Zero if both strings are equal, otherwise a negative value if lhs appears before rhs according to the
 	///          current locale, otherwise a positive value.
-	constexpr int compare(const string& ostr) const {
-		return ::strcoll(_str, ostr);
+	constexpr int compare(const cstring& str, size_t i = 0, size_t n = npos) const {
+		if (i >= size()) { // bounds check
+			return -1;
+		}
+		n = min(n, max(_str, str.size()) + 1);
+
+		return ::strncmp(_str + i, str, n);
 	}
 
 	///
 	/// \brief Finds the index of the first occurrence of `x` in the string
 	/// \param x the character to find
 	/// \returns The index of `x` if it occurs in the string, otherwise returns `size()`
-	constexpr size_t find(char x) const {
-		const char* loc = ::strchr(_str, x);
-		return loc ? loc - _str : size();
+	constexpr size_t find(char c, size_t i = 0) const {
+		if (i >= size()) { // bounds check
+			return size();
+		}
+
+		const char* loc = ::strchr(_str + i, c); // get location using strchr
+		return loc ? loc - _str : size(); // return size if not found
 	}
 
 	///
 	/// \brief Finds the index of the first occurrence of `str` in the string.
 	/// \param str the string to find
 	/// \returns The index of `str` if it occurs in the string, otherwise returns `size()`
-	constexpr size_t find(const string& str) const {
+	constexpr size_t find(const string& str, size_t i = 0) const { // bounds check
+		if (i >= size()) { // bounds check
+			return size();
+		}
+
 		const char* loc = ::strstr(_str, str);
 		return loc ? loc - _str : size();
 	}
@@ -181,9 +199,13 @@ public:
 	/// \brief Finds the index of the first occurrence of `str` in the string.
 	/// \param str the string to find
 	/// \returns The index of `str` if it occurs in the string, otherwise returns `size()`
-	constexpr size_t find(const cstring& str) const {
-		const char* loc = ::strstr(_str, str);
-		return loc ? loc - _str : size();
+	constexpr size_t find(const cstring& str, size_t i = 0) const {
+		if (i + str.size() > size()) { // bounds check
+			return size();
+		}
+
+		const char* loc = ::strstr(_str + i, str); // get location using strstr
+		return loc ? loc - _str : size(); // return size if not found
 	}
 
 	///
@@ -191,11 +213,15 @@ public:
 	/// \param c the string to find
 	/// \param i the index to start at
 	/// \returns The index of `c` if it occurs in the string, otherwise returns `size()`
-	constexpr size_t rfind(char c, size_t i = size()) const {
-		if (size() == 0) return size();
+	constexpr size_t rfind(char c, size_t i = npos) const {
+		if (size() == 0) {
+			return size();
+		}
 		i = min(i, size() - 1); // clamp i to bounds
 		do {
-			if (_str[i] == c) return i; // loop backwards looking for c
+			if (_str[i] == c) { // loop backwards looking for c
+				return i;
+			}
 		} while (i--);
 		return size(); // base case
 	}
@@ -205,12 +231,18 @@ public:
 	/// \param str the string to find
 	/// \param i the index to start at
 	/// \returns The index of `str` if it occurs in the string, otherwise returns `size()`
-	constexpr size_t rfind(const cstring& str, size_t i = size()) const {
+	constexpr size_t rfind(const cstring& str, size_t i = npos) const {
+		if (size() == 0) {
+			return size();
+		}
 		const char first = str[0];
 		i = min(i, size() - str.size());
 		do {
-			if(_str[i] == first)
-				if (compare(str, i) == 0) return i; // loop backwards looking for str
+			if(_str[i] == first) {
+				if (compare(str, i) == 0) {
+					return i;
+				}
+			}
 		} while (i--);
 		return size(); // base case
 	}
@@ -220,12 +252,18 @@ public:
 	/// \param str the string to find
 	/// \param i the index to start at
 	/// \returns The index of `str` if it occurs in the string, otherwise returns `size()`
-	constexpr size_t rfind(const string& str, size_t i = size()) const {
+	constexpr size_t rfind(const string& str, size_t i = npos) const {
+		if (size() == 0) {
+			return size();
+		}
 		const char first = str[0];
 		i = min(i, size() - str.size());
 		do {
-			if(_str[i] == first)
-				if (compare(str, i) == 0) return i; // loop backwards looking for str
+			if(_str[i] == first) {
+				if (compare(str, i) == 0) { // loop backwards looking for str
+					return i;
+				}
+			}
 		} while (i--);
 		return size(); // base case
 	}
@@ -313,7 +351,7 @@ public:
 
 	constexpr string& operator+=(const string& str) {
 		size_t x = size();
-		string::resize(x + str.size());
+		resize(x + str.size());
 		fennec::memcpy(&_str[x], str, str.size());
 		return *this;
 	}
diff --git a/include/fennec/math/vector.h b/include/fennec/math/vector.h
index 081c258..e3773e0 100644
--- a/include/fennec/math/vector.h
+++ b/include/fennec/math/vector.h
@@ -324,8 +324,7 @@ struct vector : detail::vector_base_type<ScalarT, sizeof...(IndicesV)>
 	/// \tparam SwizzleIndicesV swizzle Indices
 	/// \param swizzle swizzle object
 	template<typename SwizzleDataT, typename SwizzleScalarT, size_t... SwizzleIndicesV>
-	explicit constexpr vector(
-		const detail::swizzle_storage<SwizzleDataT, SwizzleScalarT, SwizzleIndicesV...>& swizzle) {
+	explicit constexpr vector(const detail::swizzle_storage<SwizzleDataT, SwizzleScalarT, SwizzleIndicesV...>& swizzle) {
 		((data[IndicesV] = ScalarT(swizzle[IndicesV])), ...);
 	}
 
diff --git a/test/tests/fproc/strings/test_cstring.h b/test/tests/fproc/strings/test_cstring.h
index 1e784e9..fd2e08b 100644
--- a/test/tests/fproc/strings/test_cstring.h
+++ b/test/tests/fproc/strings/test_cstring.h
@@ -40,11 +40,12 @@ inline void fennec_test_fproc_strings_cstring()
 
 	fennec_test_spacer(1);
 
-	fennec_test_run(str.length(), size_t(12));
-	fennec_test_run(str.compare(cstr), 0);
-	fennec_test_run(str.find('W'), size_t(6));
-	fennec_test_run(str.find("World"), size_t(6));
-	fennec_test_run(str.rfind('o'), size_t(7));
+	fennec_test_run(str.length(),       size_t(12));
+	fennec_test_run(str.compare(cstr),  0);
+	fennec_test_run(str.find('W'),      size_t(6));
+	fennec_test_run(str.find("World"),  size_t(6));
+	fennec_test_run(str.rfind('o'),     size_t(7));
+	fennec_test_run(str.rfind("World"), size_t(6));
 
 	fennec_test_spacer(2);