diff --git a/src/shader.cpp b/src/shader.cpp
index 021fe10..1414564 100644
--- a/src/shader.cpp
+++ b/src/shader.cpp
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@
 #include <cstdio>
 #include <cstring>
 #include <fstream>
-#include <iostream>
-#include <string>
 
 #include <glm/gtc/matrix_transform.hpp>
 
@@ -21,18 +19,24 @@
 
 // NOTE: forward declarations
 
-const std::string dumpTextFile(const char* filepath);
 bool parseShader(MemoryArena* arena, GLContext* gl_ctx, ShaderProgram* s);
+
 void loadDummyShader();
+
 void initCTXSizes(GLContext* gl_ctx);
+
 bool compileAndLinkShader(ShaderProgram* shader,
 	const char* vert_src,
 	const char* frag_src,
 	GLuint& vs_id,
 	GLuint& fs_id);
+
 u32 getGLTypeSize(GLenum e);
+
 GLTexture* getFreeGLTexture(GLContext* gl_ctx);
+
 bool loadGLTexture(Texture* image, GLuint& tex_id);
+
 void* getMeshData(const Mesh& m, const GLBufferToAttribMapping& mapping);
 
 
@@ -92,12 +96,12 @@ addShaderProgram(MemoryArena* arena,
 		s->name = arenaCopyCStr(arena, name);
 		s->hash = hash;
 
-		// TODO: replace std::string w/ utilAllocateCStr() ?
-		std::string vert = dumpTextFile(vs);
-		std::string frag = dumpTextFile(fs);
+		size_t vs_size, fs_size;
+		const char* v_str = (const char*) SDL_LoadFile(vs, &vs_size);
+		const char* f_str = (const char*) SDL_LoadFile(fs, &fs_size);
 		GLuint vs_id, fs_id;
 
-		if (compileAndLinkShader(s, vert.c_str(), frag.c_str(), vs_id, fs_id)) {
+		if (compileAndLinkShader(s, v_str, f_str, vs_id, fs_id)) {
 			s->node_xform_id = glGetUniformLocation(s->prog_id, "node_xform");
 			// TODO: add sampler uniform detection in dynamic shader parsing
 			s->sampler_id = glGetUniformLocation(s->prog_id, "sampler");
@@ -430,7 +434,7 @@ compileAndLinkShader(ShaderProgram* shader,
 	GLuint& vs_id,
 	GLuint& fs_id)
 {
-	if (strlen(vert_src) > 0 && strlen(frag_src) > 0) {
+	if (vert_src && frag_src && strlen(vert_src) > 0 && strlen(frag_src) > 0) {
 		vs_id = glCreateShader(GL_VERTEX_SHADER);
 		fs_id = glCreateShader(GL_FRAGMENT_SHADER);
 		glShaderSource(vs_id, 1, &vert_src, NULL);
@@ -474,20 +478,6 @@ compileAndLinkShader(ShaderProgram* shader,
 	return false;
 }
 
-const std::string
-dumpTextFile(const char* filepath)
-{
-	std::ifstream fs { filepath };
-	std::string s {
-		std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(fs),
-		std::istreambuf_iterator<char>()};
-
-	if (!fs || !fs.good())
-		std::cout << "error reading file, " << filepath << "\n";
-
-	return s;
-}
-
 void
 loadDummyShader()
 {