On boot, we start executing code from the **Boot Sector**. This contains the assembly instructions, which then jump to the `kernel` code in the **Kernel Sector**.
The `kernel` then reads in bytes from the first partition *(as the sectors are fixed-size, we know when this starts)* into memory, serializing it into a `PartitionHeader` struct via [bincode](https://lib.rs/crates/bincode).
From here, as we have a fixed `CHUNK_SIZE`, and know how many chunks are in our first partition, we can read from any chunk on any partition now.
On startup, an *Actor* can request to read data from the disk. If it has the right [capabilities](/development/design/actor.md#ocap), we find the chunk it's looking for[^find_chunk], parse the data (using `bincode` again), and send it back.
Writing uses a similar process. An *Actor* can request to write data. If it has proper capabilties, we serialize the data, allocate a free chunk[^free_chunk], and write to it.
We *hash* the data first to generate a checksum, and set proper metadata if the data extends past the `CHUNK_SIZE`.
Programs written in userspace will need to follow a specific format.
First, users will write a program in **Rust**, using the **Mercury** libraries, and with `no-std`.
They'll use [Actors](/development/design/actor.md) to communicate with the `kernel`.
Then, they'll compile it for the proper platform and get a pure binary.
This will be ran through an *executable packer* program, and the output of which can be downloaded by the package manager, put on disk, etc.
It'll then parsed in via `bincode`, then the core is ran by the `kernel` in userspace.
Additionally, the raw bytes will be compressed.
Then, whether reading from [chunks](#chunk) from memory or disk, we can know whether it will run on the current system, how long to read for, and when the compressed bytes start (due to the fixed length header).
It is then simple to decompress the raw bytes and run them from the `kernel`.
[^find_chunk]: The `PartitionHeader` has a tuple `(Uuid, u64)` which maps each `Actor` to a chunk number, allowing for easy finding of a specific chunk from an actor-provided `Uuid`.