code: public static CheckpointStorageLocationReference encodePathAsReference(Path path) {
  		byte[] refBytes = path.toString().getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
  		byte[] bytes = new byte[REFERENCE_MAGIC_NUMBER.length + refBytes.length];
  
  		System.arraycopy(REFERENCE_MAGIC_NUMBER, 0, bytes, 0, REFERENCE_MAGIC_NUMBER.length);
  		System.arraycopy(refBytes, 0, bytes, REFERENCE_MAGIC_NUMBER.length, refBytes.length);
  
  		return new CheckpointStorageLocationReference(bytes);
  	}
docs: Encodes the given path as a reference in bytes. The path is encoded as a UTF-8 string
  and prepended as a magic number.
  
  @param path The path to encode.
  @return The location reference.