diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..75ee041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+db_path=data/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index adbb97d..43c96a6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
-data/
\ No newline at end of file
+data/
+.env
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index eb48a96..d79a82e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -5,13 +5,14 @@ Go-CaskDB is a disk-based, embedded, persistent, key-value store based on the [R
 ## Tasks
 - [x] Get, Set KV using disk as store
 - [x] Loading data from disk onto memory 
+- [ ] Support for generic key and values (right now only for strings)
 - [ ] Proper logging
 - [ ] need better way of handling bytes (very bad rn)
+- [ ] testing and benchmarks
 - [ ] Crash Safety
 - [ ] Key Deletion
-- [ ] Support for generic key and values (right now only for strings)
 - [ ] RB-tree to support range scans
-- [ ] Split db file into several small files (implement merging compaction)
+- [ ] Split db file into several small files (implement merging compaction using go-routines)
 - [ ] Cache
 - [ ] Garbage Collector for removing old deleted keys
 - [ ] Distributed using Paxos or consistent hashing
diff --git a/format/decoder.go b/format/decoder.go
index aa83c46..9fd2456 100644
--- a/format/decoder.go
+++ b/format/decoder.go
@@ -11,9 +11,9 @@ func DecodeHeader(buf []byte) (int64, int32, int32) {
 	return int64(timestamp), int32(key_size), int32(value_size)
 }
 
-func DecodeKeyValue(buf []byte) (int, string, string) {
+func DecodeKeyValue(buf []byte) (int64, string, string) {
 	timestamp, key_size, value_size := DecodeHeader(buf[:HEADER_SIZE])
 	key := string(buf[HEADER_SIZE : HEADER_SIZE+key_size])
 	value := string(buf[HEADER_SIZE+key_size : HEADER_SIZE+key_size+value_size])
-	return int(timestamp), key, value
+	return timestamp, key, value
 }
diff --git a/format/format_test.go b/format/format_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9651dde
--- /dev/null
+++ b/format/format_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+package format
+
+import (
+	"math/rand"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func generateRandomHeader() (int64, int32, int32) {
+	return rand.Int63(), rand.Int31(), rand.Int31()
+}
+
+func TestEncodeAndDecodeHeader(t *testing.T) {
+	timestamp, key_size, value_size := generateRandomHeader()
+	encodedHeader := encodeHeader(timestamp, key_size, value_size)
+	d_timestamp, d_key_size, d_value_size := DecodeHeader(encodedHeader.Bytes())
+	assert.Equal(t, timestamp, d_timestamp, "Timestamps are not equal!")
+	assert.Equal(t, key_size, d_key_size, "Key sizes are not equal!")
+	assert.Equal(t, value_size, d_value_size, "Value sizes are not equal!")
+}
+
+func TestEncodeAndDecodeKeyValue(t *testing.T) {
+	timestamp := int64(rand.Int63())
+	key := "name"
+	value := "abeshek"
+	_, buf := EncodeKeyValue(timestamp, key, value)
+	d_timestamp, d_key, d_value := DecodeKeyValue(buf)
+	assert.Equal(t, timestamp, d_timestamp, "Timestamps are not equal!")
+	assert.Equal(t, key, d_key, "Keys are not equal!")
+	assert.Equal(t, value, d_value, "Values are not equal!")
+}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 2887099..3f1d0f4 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
 module github.com/abesheknarayan/go-caskdb
 
 go 1.18
+
+require (
+	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0 // indirect
+	github.com/joho/godotenv v1.4.0 // indirect
+	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 // indirect
+	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.7.1 // indirect
+	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.0-20200313102051-9f266ea9e77c // indirect
+)
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..da72bf5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0 h1:ZDRjVQ15GmhC3fiQ8ni8+OwkZQO4DARzQgrnXU1Liz8=
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
+github.com/joho/godotenv v1.4.0 h1:3l4+N6zfMWnkbPEXKng2o2/MR5mSwTrBih4ZEkkz1lg=
+github.com/joho/godotenv v1.4.0/go.mod h1:f4LDr5Voq0i2e/R5DDNOoa2zzDfwtkZa6DnEwAbqwq4=
+github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 h1:4DBwDE0NGyQoBHbLQYPwSUPoCMWR5BEzIk/f1lZbAQM=
+github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
+github.com/stretchr/objx v0.1.0/go.mod h1:HFkY916IF+rwdDfMAkV7OtwuqBVzrE8GR6GFx+wExME=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.7.1 h1:5TQK59W5E3v0r2duFAb7P95B6hEeOyEnHRa8MjYSMTY=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.7.1/go.mod h1:6Fq8oRcR53rry900zMqJjRRixrwX3KX962/h/Wwjteg=
+gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
+gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.0-20200313102051-9f266ea9e77c h1:dUUwHk2QECo/6vqA44rthZ8ie2QXMNeKRTHCNY2nXvo=
+gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.0-20200313102051-9f266ea9e77c/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 18de634..04ea185 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -2,19 +2,27 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"log"
+	"os"
 
 	"github.com/abesheknarayan/go-caskdb/stores"
+	"github.com/joho/godotenv"
 )
 
 func main() {
-	booksDb, err := stores.InitDb("books")
+	err := godotenv.Load(".env")
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("failed to load env file")
+	}
+	path := os.Getenv("DB_PATH")
+	booksDb, err := stores.InitDb("test", path)
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Println(err)
 	}
 	booksDb.Set("name", "abeshek")
 	fmt.Println(booksDb.Get("name"))
-	booksDb.Set("movie", "top gun")
+	booksDb.Set("movie", "top gun maverick")
 	fmt.Println(booksDb.Get("movie"))
-
 	booksDb.CloseDB()
+	// booksDb.Cleanup()
 }
diff --git a/run_tests.sh b/run_tests.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7f41414
--- /dev/null
+++ b/run_tests.sh
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+go test ./format ./stores
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/stores/disk_store.go b/stores/disk_store.go
index 6cfdc5a..ef6cb5b 100644
--- a/stores/disk_store.go
+++ b/stores/disk_store.go
@@ -29,14 +29,14 @@ type DiskStore struct {
 }
 
 // creates a new db and returns the object ref
-func InitDb(dbName string) (*DiskStore, error) {
+func InitDb(dbName string, path string) (*DiskStore, error) {
 
 	// if db is already present load it or else create new db
-	fileName := fmt.Sprintf("data/%s.db", dbName)
+	fileName := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s.db", path, dbName)
 
 	if _, err := os.Stat(fileName); errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
 		fmt.Println("file doesn't exist !!")
-		return createDB(dbName)
+		return createDB(dbName, path)
 	}
 
 	// open file in binary + append mode
@@ -58,12 +58,14 @@ func InitDb(dbName string) (*DiskStore, error) {
 }
 
 // create new file
-func createDB(dbName string) (*DiskStore, error) {
-	filename := fmt.Sprintf("data/%s.db", dbName)
+func createDB(dbName string, path string) (*DiskStore, error) {
+	// path :=
+	filename := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s.db", path, dbName)
 	fmt.Printf("creating new file %s\n", filename)
 	f, err := os.Create(filename)
 
 	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Println("here")
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
@@ -155,6 +157,15 @@ func (d *DiskStore) Get(key string) string {
 	return value
 }
 
+// clears the db file and hash index
+func (d *DiskStore) Cleanup() {
+	d.currentByteOffsetPosition = 0
+	for k := range d.hashIndex {
+		delete(d.hashIndex, k)
+	}
+	os.Remove(d.filename)
+}
+
 func (d *DiskStore) CloseDB() {
 	d.file.Sync()
 	d.file.Close()
diff --git a/stores/disk_store_test.go b/stores/disk_store_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bc3bb42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stores/disk_store_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+package stores
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+var db *DiskStore
+var tempDir string // for storing db
+
+func TestGet(t *testing.T) {
+	value := "pro tester"
+	db.Set("name", value)
+	assert.Equal(t, value, db.Get("name"), "Values are not equal!!")
+}
+
+func TestInvalidKey(t *testing.T) {
+	// subject to change in future
+	assert.Equal(t, "", db.Get("random_key"))
+}
+
+func TestPersistance(t *testing.T) {
+	db.Set("football", "cr7")
+	db.CloseDB()
+	var err error
+	db, err = InitDb("testdb", tempDir)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf(err.Error())
+	}
+	assert.Equal(t, "cr7", db.Get("football"), "Persistance failure!")
+}
+
+func TestDbCleaup(t *testing.T) {
+	db.Set("name", "God")
+	db.CloseDB()
+	db.Cleanup()
+	assert.Equal(t, "", db.Get("name"), "Expected empty value")
+}
+
+func setupTests(t *testing.T) {
+	fmt.Println("running setup")
+	tempDir = t.TempDir()
+	fmt.Println(tempDir)
+	var err error
+	db, err = InitDb("testdb", tempDir)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf(err.Error())
+	}
+}
+
+func cleanupTests() {
+	log.Println("Cleaning up tests")
+	db.CloseDB()
+	db.Cleanup()
+}
+
+// all setup is done here as this runs first, call all tests from here
+func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
+	setupTests(&testing.T{})
+	exit := m.Run()
+	cleanupTests()
+	os.Exit(exit)
+}