DISCLAIMER: These notes are from the defunct k8 project which precedes SquirrelJME. The notes for SquirrelJME start on 2016/02/26! The k8 project was effectively a Java SE 8 operating system and as such all of the notes are in the context of that scope. That project is no longer my goal as SquirrelJME is the spiritual successor to it.
On class directories (the -classpath)
The virtual machine as on other systems has a class path argument which enables using other classes to use instead of the default class library. The kernel will easily use the basic system class path that exists in the user directory. However, user processes and drivers might have an alternative class path along with default packages. The search order for classes may be completely different and the boot strap class path could be different also.
To handle this situation, the directory of the class path must be stored in the virtual machine to search for already loaded classes which exist in that path. However, storing the path name will lead to timing attacks as one could delete the directory and replace it with another, or modify class files inside the directories to wreak havoc with the virtual machine. Thus, class path directories must be locked and must always be referenced in the event that they are deleted, renamed, or the files inside are modified. If a class file is being used by the virtual machine as information on a class, then that class file cannot be modified and if it is, it is hidden from the virtual machine.
With network, host, virtual, and removable file systems, it will not be possible to maintain a lock forever as either the local or remote end could modify the file or delete it (media removal would act as deletion). If the class file is not fully loaded by the virtual machine then it will cause a fatal uncatchable runtime exception which cannot be caught. Crashing the program because a network store went out for a few seconds is a rather bad idea. Therefor, information about the class file will be placed with the loaded class info to detect any changes in the class file such as the size and the checksum of the file. A good checksum algorithm must be used to prevent potential hash collisions of the specified file.
On a normal desktop, each program is run under its own virtual machine rather than a shared one all applications. Doing this however uses more memory than needed and increases load times as information on the same classes must be loaded again and again. Perhaps for speed and security, there can be a class storage cookie which is used instead of the classpath which affects all user programs being run. Such a cookie cannot be changed by any user and may only be set once. It also is owned by a user which means it cannot be modified nor used by other users.