Crystal: Ruby with Static Typing

(Event description is below the timeline. Click "Read more" to see it)

Event Timeline:

• 6:30pm - Pre-talk Networking Time - Anticafe Place Des Arts (294 Saint-Catherine St W, 3rd floor, Montreal, QC): this is a coworking space, so the event costs about $10 that includes drinks like coffee/tea and snacks like chips/pretzels/cookies; sign in on Anticafe's computer when you enter and pay Anticafe for your stay when you leave; after signing in, go to the 3rd floor*, turn left, and then walk to the presentation room with the projector screen*. The venue is a coworking space, so its employees might not know about the event. Contact the organizer, Andy Maleh, via DM if you get lost or have questions.
• 7pm - Talk - Anticafe Place Des Arts
• 8pm - Networking Time - NYKS Bar (1250 Rue de Bleury, Montréal, QC): Networking time continues at 9:00pm (if we don't find seats at NYKS Bar, we could meet at Benelux at 245 Sherbrooke St W instead).

Crystal: Ruby with Static Typing [1h] - Andy Maleh

Crystal is a relatively new programming language that aims to emulate Ruby's syntax as much as possible while supporting Static Typing.

Although Ruby remains the most convenient and productive programming language for business app development due to handling types automatically with Dynamic Typing, in about 1% of Business Software Development cases, Crystal can help out when there is a need for much higher performance in response-time-sensitive and performance-intensive computations.

In a recent RubyConf keynote speech, Matz (the creator of Ruby) compared using a Dynamically Typed language like Ruby to driving a car with an automatic stickshift and using a Statically Typed language like C to driving a car with a manual stickshift. Most of the time, the convenience and productivity benefits of automatic stickshift are more desirable to deliver value in a timely fashion to customers. But, every once in a while, driving manual could be a very useful alternative for the few cases that need it. As such, it is valuable to learn Crystal for the sake of augmenting Ruby with a language that trades off some programmer friendliness for performance whenever needed.

This talk will provide a general overview of the Crystal programming language and show some Crystal code examples.

Speaker Bio

Andy Maleh is a Fukuoka Prefecture Future IT Initiative 2025 MoneyForward Award winner for Glimmer DSL for Web (Ruby Web Frontend Framework) and a Fukuoka Ruby 2022 Special Award winner for Glimmer DSL for LibUI (Prerequisite-Free Ruby Desktop Development Cross-Platform Native GUI Library) after getting judged by Matz (the creator of Ruby). He works at Lexop as a Senior Software Engineer. Andy has spoken at various Software Conferences, including RubyConf, RailsConf, MountainWest RubyConf, and MagicRuby. He has a Master's degree in Software Engineering from DePaul University, Chicago, and a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from McGill University, Montreal. In his free time, Andy drums in a rock band, curls/plays softball in a league (won the 2024-2025 TGIF Curling League championship at the Royal Montreal Curling Club), and snowboards. He is also a big sports fan of the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Alouettes, Montreal Alliance, and Boston Red Sox.