diff --git a/src/cfg/opt.c b/src/cfg/opt.c
index d907961..57ed113 100644
--- a/src/cfg/opt.c
+++ b/src/cfg/opt.c
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ TargetConfig* default_target_config() {
     config->link_search_paths = g_array_new(FALSE, FALSE, sizeof(char*));
     config->lld_fatal_warnings = FALSE;
     config->gsc_fatal_warnings = FALSE;
+    config->import_paths = mem_new_g_array(MemoryNamespaceOpt, sizeof(char*));
 
     return config;
 }
@@ -208,6 +209,9 @@ TargetConfig* default_target_config_from_args() {
         g_array_free(files, TRUE);
     }
 
+    char* default_import_path = mem_strdup(MemoryNamespaceOpt, ".");
+    g_array_append_val(config->import_paths, default_import_path);
+
     return config;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/cfg/opt.h b/src/cfg/opt.h
index 53fe5f6..9b61def 100644
--- a/src/cfg/opt.h
+++ b/src/cfg/opt.h
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ typedef struct TargetConfig_t {
     bool lld_fatal_warnings;
     // treat parser warnings as errors
     bool gsc_fatal_warnings;
+    GArray* import_paths;
 } TargetConfig;
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/compiler.c b/src/compiler.c
index b9dcf9f..01fb79c 100644
--- a/src/compiler.c
+++ b/src/compiler.c
@@ -164,7 +164,35 @@ static void run_backend_codegen(const Module* module, const TargetConfig* target
     err = deinit_backend();
 }
 
-static AST_NODE_PTR compile_module_with_dependencies(ModuleFileStack *unit, ModuleFile* file) {
+const char* get_absolute_import_path(const TargetConfig* config, const char* import_target_name) {
+    INFO("resolving absolute path for import target: %s", import_target_name);
+
+    for (guint i = 0; i < config->import_paths->len; i++) {
+        const char* import_directory_path = g_array_index(config->import_paths, char*, i);
+
+        char* path = g_build_filename(import_directory_path, import_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) {
+            INFO("import target found at: %s", canonical);
+            return canonical;
+        }
+
+        g_free(canonical);
+    }
+
+    // file not found
+    return NULL;
+}
+
+static AST_NODE_PTR compile_module_with_dependencies(ModuleFileStack *unit, ModuleFile* file, const TargetConfig *target) {
     AST_NODE_PTR root_module = AST_new_node(empty_location(), AST_Module, NULL);
 
     if (compile_file_to_ast(root_module, file) == EXIT_SUCCESS) {
@@ -175,7 +203,12 @@ static AST_NODE_PTR compile_module_with_dependencies(ModuleFileStack *unit, Modu
             if (child->kind == AST_Import) {
                 AST_NODE_PTR imported_module = AST_new_node(empty_location(), AST_Module, NULL);
 
-                ModuleFile *imported_file = push_file(unit, child->value);
+                const char* path = get_absolute_import_path(target, child->value);
+                if (path == NULL) {
+                    return NULL;
+                }
+
+                ModuleFile *imported_file = push_file(unit, path);
 
                 if (compile_file_to_ast(imported_module, imported_file) == EXIT_SUCCESS) {
                     AST_merge_modules(root_module, i + 1, imported_module);
@@ -196,7 +229,7 @@ static void build_target(ModuleFileStack *unit, const TargetConfig *target) {
     print_message(Info, "Building target: %s", target->name);
 
     ModuleFile *file = push_file(unit, target->root_module);
-    AST_NODE_PTR  ast = compile_module_with_dependencies(unit, file);
+    AST_NODE_PTR  ast = compile_module_with_dependencies(unit, file, target);
 
     if (ast != NULL) {
         if (setup_target_environment(target) == 0) {
diff --git a/src/llvm/llvm-ir/expr.c b/src/llvm/llvm-ir/expr.c
index 9c13729..5b2d0d3 100644
--- a/src/llvm/llvm-ir/expr.c
+++ b/src/llvm/llvm-ir/expr.c
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include <llvm/llvm-ir/expr.h>
 #include <llvm/llvm-ir/types.h>
 #include <sys/log.h>
+#include <mem/cache.h>
 
 BackendError impl_bitwise_operation(LLVMBackendCompileUnit *unit,
                                     LLVMLocalScope *scope,
@@ -394,6 +395,29 @@ BackendError impl_address_of(LLVMBackendCompileUnit *unit, LLVMLocalScope *scope
     return SUCCESS;
 }
 
+BackendError impl_deref(LLVMBackendCompileUnit *unit, LLVMLocalScope *scope,
+                             LLVMBuilderRef builder, Dereference* dereference,
+                             LLVMValueRef *llvm_result) {
+    BackendError err;
+
+    LLVMValueRef llvm_pointer = get_variable(scope, dereference->variable->impl.variable->name);
+    LLVMTypeRef llvm_deref_type = NULL;
+    err = get_type_impl(unit, scope->func_scope->global_scope, dereference->variable->result, &llvm_deref_type);
+    if (err.kind != Success) {
+        return err;
+    }
+
+    LLVMValueRef* index = mem_alloc(MemoryNamespaceLlvm, sizeof(LLVMValueRef));
+    err = impl_expr(unit, scope, builder, dereference->index, FALSE, index);
+    if (err.kind != Success) {
+        return err;
+    }
+
+    *llvm_result = LLVMBuildGEP2(builder, llvm_deref_type, llvm_pointer, index, 1, "expr.deref");
+
+    return err;
+}
+
 BackendError impl_expr(LLVMBackendCompileUnit *unit, LLVMLocalScope *scope,
                        LLVMBuilderRef builder, Expression *expr,
                        LLVMBool reference,
@@ -427,6 +451,10 @@ BackendError impl_expr(LLVMBackendCompileUnit *unit, LLVMLocalScope *scope,
             err = impl_address_of(unit, scope, builder, &expr->impl.addressOf,
                                   llvm_result);
             break;
+        case ExpressionKindDereference:
+            err = impl_deref(unit, scope, builder, &expr->impl.dereference,
+                             llvm_result);
+            break;
         default:
             err = new_backend_impl_error(Implementation, NULL, "unknown expression");
             break;
diff --git a/src/llvm/llvm-ir/types.c b/src/llvm/llvm-ir/types.c
index a9458e8..e577440 100644
--- a/src/llvm/llvm-ir/types.c
+++ b/src/llvm/llvm-ir/types.c
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include <llvm/parser.h>
 #include <set/types.h>
 #include <sys/log.h>
+#include <set/set.h>
 
 #define BASE_BYTES 4
 #define BITS_PER_BYTE 8
@@ -33,6 +34,17 @@ static BackendError get_const_composite_value(CompositeType composite,
                                      llvm_value);
 }
 
+BackendError impl_reference_const(TypeValue* value, LLVMValueRef* llvm_value) {
+    BackendError err = SUCCESS;
+    if (value->type->kind == TypeKindReference && compareTypes(value->type, (Type*) &StringLiteralType)) {
+        // is string literal
+        *llvm_value = LLVMConstString(value->value, strlen(value->value), FALSE);
+    } else {
+        err = new_backend_impl_error(Implementation, value->nodePtr, "reference initializer can only be string literals");
+    }
+    return err;
+}
+
 BackendError get_const_type_value(LLVMBackendCompileUnit* unit,
                                   LLVMGlobalScope* scope,
                                   TypeValue* gemstone_value,
@@ -58,9 +70,7 @@ BackendError get_const_type_value(LLVMBackendCompileUnit* unit,
                                             llvm_value);
             break;
         case TypeKindReference:
-            err =
-                new_backend_impl_error(Implementation, gemstone_value->nodePtr,
-                                       "reference cannot be constant value");
+            err = impl_reference_const(gemstone_value, llvm_value);
             break;
         case TypeKindBox:
             err =
diff --git a/src/llvm/parser.c b/src/llvm/parser.c
index 19f0d04..735c8c1 100644
--- a/src/llvm/parser.c
+++ b/src/llvm/parser.c
@@ -207,6 +207,9 @@ static BackendError build_module(LLVMBackendCompileUnit* unit,
     }
 
     err = impl_functions(unit, global_scope, module->functions);
+    if (err.kind != Success) {
+        return err;
+    }
 
     char* error = NULL;
     if (LLVMVerifyModule(unit->module, LLVMAbortProcessAction, &error)) {
diff --git a/src/set/set.c b/src/set/set.c
index 4ef19a1..07ffd54 100644
--- a/src/set/set.c
+++ b/src/set/set.c
@@ -1292,7 +1292,8 @@ int createDeref(Expression *ParentExpression, AST_NODE_PTR currentNode) {
     assert(currentNode->child_count == 2);
     Dereference deref;
     deref.nodePtr = currentNode;
-    deref.index = createExpression(AST_get_node(currentNode, 0));
+    AST_NODE_PTR expression_node = AST_get_node(currentNode, 1);
+    deref.index = createExpression(expression_node);
 
     //index has to be made
     if (deref.index == NULL) {
@@ -1323,11 +1324,11 @@ int createDeref(Expression *ParentExpression, AST_NODE_PTR currentNode) {
         }
     }
 
-    deref.variable = createExpression(AST_get_node(currentNode, 1));
+    deref.variable = createExpression(AST_get_node(currentNode, 0));
 
     //variable has to be made
     if (deref.index == NULL) {
-        print_diagnostic(current_file, &AST_get_node(currentNode, 1)->location, Error, "Invalid index");
+        print_diagnostic(current_file, &AST_get_node(currentNode, 0)->location, Error, "Invalid index");
         return SEMANTIC_ERROR;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/set/set.h b/src/set/set.h
index e321fd4..21c3f1c 100644
--- a/src/set/set.h
+++ b/src/set/set.h
@@ -7,8 +7,13 @@
 #define SEMANTIC_OK 0
 #define SEMANTIC_ERROR 1
 
+// type of string literal
+extern const Type StringLiteralType;
+
 Module * create_set(AST_NODE_PTR rootNodePtr );
 
 void delete_set(Module* module);
 
+bool compareTypes(Type *leftType, Type *rightType);
+
 #endif