diff --git a/src/cfg/opt.c b/src/cfg/opt.c
index 256e2eb..3529ded 100644
--- a/src/cfg/opt.c
+++ b/src/cfg/opt.c
@@ -102,10 +102,37 @@ TargetConfig* default_target_config() {
     config->output_directory = strdup("bin");
     config->optimization_level = 1;
     config->root_module = NULL;
+    config->link_search_paths = g_array_new(FALSE, FALSE, sizeof(char*));
 
     return config;
 }
 
+const char* get_absolute_link_path(const TargetConfig* config, const char* link_target_name) {
+
+    for (guint i = 0; i < config->link_search_paths->len; i++) {
+        const char* link_directory_path = g_array_index(config->link_search_paths, char*, i);
+
+        char* path = g_build_filename(link_directory_path, link_target_name, NULL);
+        char* cwd = g_get_current_dir();
+        char* canonical = g_canonicalize_filename(path, cwd);
+
+        const gboolean exists = g_file_test(canonical, G_FILE_TEST_EXISTS);
+        const gboolean is_dir = g_file_test(canonical, G_FILE_TEST_IS_DIR);
+
+        g_free(path);
+        g_free(cwd);
+
+        if (exists && !is_dir) {
+            return canonical;
+        }
+
+        g_free(canonical);
+    }
+
+    // file not found
+    return NULL;
+}
+
 TargetConfig* default_target_config_from_args() {
     DEBUG("generating default target from command line...");
 
@@ -145,6 +172,36 @@ TargetConfig* default_target_config_from_args() {
         }
     }
 
+    if (is_option_set("link-paths")) {
+        const Option* opt = get_option("link-paths");
+
+        if (opt->value != NULL) {
+
+            const char* start = opt->value;
+            const char* end = NULL;
+            while((end = strchr(start, ',')) != NULL) {
+
+                const int len = end - start;
+                char* link_path = malloc(len + 1);
+                memcpy(link_path, start, len);
+                link_path[len] = 0;
+
+                g_array_append_val(config->link_search_paths, link_path);
+
+                start = end;
+            }
+
+            const int len = strlen(start);
+            if (len > 0) {
+                char* link_path = malloc(len + 1);
+                memcpy(link_path, start, len);
+                link_path[len] = 0;
+
+                g_array_append_val(config->link_search_paths, link_path);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     GArray* files = get_non_options_after("compile");
 
     if (files == NULL) {
@@ -172,11 +229,12 @@ void print_help(void) {
         "Compile non-project file: gsc compile <target-options> [file]",
         "Output information: gsc <option>",
         "Target options:",
-        "    --print-ast      print resulting abstract syntax tree to a file",
-        "    --print-asm      print resulting assembly language to a file",
-        "    --print-ir       print resulting LLVM-IR to a file",
-        "    --mode=[app|lib] set the compilation mode to either application or library",
-        "    --output=name    name of output files without extension",
+        "    --print-ast           print resulting abstract syntax tree to a file",
+        "    --print-asm           print resulting assembly language to a file",
+        "    --print-ir            print resulting LLVM-IR to a file",
+        "    --mode=[app|lib]      set the compilation mode to either application or library",
+        "    --output=name         name of output files without extension",
+        "    --link-paths=[paths,] set a list of directories to for libraries in"
         "Options:",
         "    --verbose        print logs with level information or higher",
         "    --debug          print debug logs (if not disabled at compile time)",
@@ -373,6 +431,12 @@ void delete_target_config(TargetConfig* config) {
     if (config->output_directory != NULL) {
         free(config->output_directory);
     }
+    if (config->link_search_paths) {
+        for (guint i = 0; i < config->link_search_paths->len; i++) {
+            free(g_array_index(config->link_search_paths, char*, i));
+        }
+        g_array_free(config->link_search_paths, TRUE);
+    }
     free(config);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/cfg/opt.h b/src/cfg/opt.h
index eca919f..2f01c23 100644
--- a/src/cfg/opt.h
+++ b/src/cfg/opt.h
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@
 
 #define TOML_ERROR_MSG_BUF 256
 
+typedef struct TargetLinkConfig_t {
+    // name of object files to link
+    GArray* object_file_names;
+} TargetLinktConfig;
+
 typedef enum TargetCompilationMode_t {
     // output an executable binary
     Application,
@@ -44,6 +49,9 @@ typedef struct TargetConfig_t {
     TargetCompilationMode mode;
     // number between 1 and 3
     int optimization_level;
+    // path to look for object files
+    // (can be extra library paths, auto included is output_directory)
+    GArray* link_search_paths;
 } TargetConfig;
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/compiler.c b/src/compiler.c
index a11d556..ec84382 100644
--- a/src/compiler.c
+++ b/src/compiler.c
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 #include <codegen/backend.h>
 #include <llvm/backend.h>
 
+#define GRAPHVIZ_FILE_EXTENSION "gv"
+
 extern void yyrestart(FILE *);
 
 // Module AST node used by the parser for AST construction.
@@ -94,6 +96,8 @@ static int setup_target_environment(const TargetConfig *target) {
         return EXIT_FAILURE;
     }
 
+    INFO("setup environment successfully");
+
     return EXIT_SUCCESS;
 }
 
@@ -105,26 +109,38 @@ static int setup_target_environment(const TargetConfig *target) {
 static void print_ast_to_file(const AST_NODE_PTR ast, const TargetConfig *target) {
     assert(ast != NULL);
     assert(target != NULL);
+    DEBUG("printing AST to file: %s", target->name);
 
-    if (!target->print_ast)
+    if (!target->print_ast) {
+        INFO("no need to print AST");
         return;
+    }
 
     // create file path to write graphviz to
-    const char *path = make_file_path(target->name, ".gv", 1, target->archive_directory);
+    // basename of ile
+    char* filename = g_strjoin(".", target->name, GRAPHVIZ_FILE_EXTENSION, NULL);
+    // relative path to file
+    char *path = g_build_filename(target->archive_directory, filename, NULL);
 
-    FILE *output = fopen((const char *) path, "w");
+    DEBUG("Opening file to graph: %s", path);
+
+    FILE *output = fopen(path, "w");
     if (output == NULL) {
-        const char *message = get_last_error();
+        char *message = (char*) get_last_error();
         print_message(Error, "Unable to open file for syntax tree at: %s: %s", path, message);
-        free((void *) message);
+        free(message);
     } else {
+        DEBUG("writing graph to file...");
 
         AST_fprint_graphviz(output, ast);
 
         fclose(output);
+
+        print_message(Info, "AST graph was written to: %s", path);
     }
 
-    free((void *) path);
+    g_free(filename);
+    g_free(path);
 }
 
 static void run_backend_codegen(const Module* module, const TargetConfig* target) {
diff --git a/src/io/files.c b/src/io/files.c
index 5f3ad02..4fc4f14 100644
--- a/src/io/files.c
+++ b/src/io/files.c
@@ -294,14 +294,7 @@ int create_directory(const char *path) {
 
     DEBUG("creating directory: %s", path);
 
-    int result;
-#ifdef __unix__
-    result = mkdir(path, S_IRWXU | S_IRWXG | S_IROTH | S_IXOTH);
-#elif defined(_WIN32) || defined(WIN32)
-    result = _mkdir(path);
-#endif
-
-    return result;
+    return g_mkdir_with_parents(path, 0755);
 }
 
 const char *get_last_error() {
@@ -313,44 +306,9 @@ const char *get_absolute_path(const char *path) {
 
     DEBUG("resolving absolute path of: %s", path);
 
-#ifdef __unix__
-    // use unix specific function
-    char absolute_path[MAX_PATH_BYTES];
-    realpath(path, absolute_path);
-#elif defined(_WIN32) || defined(WIN32)
-    // use Windows CRT specific function
-    char absolute_path[MAX_PATH_BYTES];
-    _fullpath(path, absolute_path, _MAX_PATH);
-#endif
+    char* cwd = g_get_current_dir();
+    char* canoical = g_canonicalize_filename(path, cwd);
+    g_free(cwd);
 
-    return strdup(absolute_path);
-}
-
-const char* make_file_path(const char* name, const char* ext, int count, ...) {
-    DEBUG("building file path...");
-
-    va_list args;
-    va_start(args, count); // Initialize the va_list with the first variadic argument
-
-    char* path = calloc(MAX_PATH_BYTES, sizeof(char));
-
-    for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
-        const char* arg = va_arg(args, const char*);
-        assert(arg != NULL);
-
-        strcat(path, arg);
-        strcat(path, PATH_SEPARATOR);
-    }
-
-    va_end(args); // Clean up the va_list
-
-    if (name != NULL) {
-        strcat(path, name);
-    }
-
-    if (name != NULL) {
-        strcat(path, ext);
-    }
-
-    return path;
+    return canoical;
 }
diff --git a/src/io/files.h b/src/io/files.h
index 61c7ebb..e65b9e1 100644
--- a/src/io/files.h
+++ b/src/io/files.h
@@ -142,15 +142,4 @@ const char* get_last_error();
 [[nodiscard("pointer must be freed")]]
 const char* get_absolute_path(const char* path);
 
-/**
- * @brief Create a file path from a base name, extension a variable amount of directory path segments.
- * @param count Amount of path segments to prepend to the basename
- * @param name Basename of the file
- * @param ext Extension of the file
- * @param ... Path segments without path separator
- * @return A relative path of a file
- */
-[[nodiscard("pointer must be freed")]]
-const char* make_file_path(const char* name, const char* ext, int count, ...);
-
 #endif //GEMSTONE_FILES_H
diff --git a/src/llvm/parser.c b/src/llvm/parser.c
index 57c989e..47eac0e 100644
--- a/src/llvm/parser.c
+++ b/src/llvm/parser.c
@@ -24,9 +24,9 @@ BackendError export_IR(LLVMBackendCompileUnit* unit, const Target* target,
     // convert module to LLVM-IR
     char* ir = LLVMPrintModuleToString(unit->module);
 
+    char* basename = g_strjoin(".", target->name.str, "ll", NULL);
     // construct file name
-    const char* filename =
-        make_file_path(target->name.str, ".ll", 1, config->archive_directory);
+    const char* filename = g_build_filename(config->archive_directory, basename, NULL);
 
     INFO("Writing LLVM-IR to %s", filename);
 
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ BackendError export_IR(LLVMBackendCompileUnit* unit, const Target* target,
 
     INFO("%ld bytes written to %s", bytes, filename);
 
-    free((char*)filename);
+    g_free((char*)filename);
+    g_free(basename);
 
     // clean up LLVM-IR string
     LLVMDisposeMessage(ir);
@@ -64,15 +65,16 @@ BackendError emit_module_to_file(LLVMBackendCompileUnit* unit,
     BackendError err = SUCCESS;
     DEBUG("Generating code...");
 
+    const char* basename;
     const char* filename;
     switch (file_type) {
         case LLVMAssemblyFile:
-            filename = make_file_path(config->name, ".s", 1,
-                                      config->archive_directory);
+            basename = g_strjoin(".", config->name, "s", NULL);
+            filename = g_build_filename(config->archive_directory, basename, NULL);
             break;
         case LLVMObjectFile:
-            filename = make_file_path(config->name, ".o", 1,
-                                      config->archive_directory);
+            basename = g_strjoin("", config->name, "o", NULL);
+            filename = g_build_filename(config->archive_directory, basename, NULL);
             break;
         default:
             return new_backend_impl_error(Implementation, NULL,
@@ -87,8 +89,8 @@ BackendError emit_module_to_file(LLVMBackendCompileUnit* unit,
         LLVMDisposeMessage(error);
     }
 
-    free((void*)filename);
-
+    g_free((void*) filename);
+    g_free((void*) basename);
     return err;
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/project/build.toml b/tests/project/build.toml
index 772f9a5..da04bc5 100644
--- a/tests/project/build.toml
+++ b/tests/project/build.toml
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ description = "This is a test project"
 
 [target.debug]
 root = "src/main.txt"
-output = "bin"
-archive = "archive"
+output = "bin/debug"
+archive = "archive/debug"
 opt = 1
 print_ast = true
 print_asm = true