Appendix 1
Setting Up a Crystal Environment

In this chapter, you’ll get up and running with Crystal, and by the end of it, you’ll write, compile, and execute your first code in a Crystal-friendly environment. You’ll begin by installing the Crystal compiler and tool-chain. Then we’ll discuss the compilation process and editor options so that you can write your source code comfortably. Next, you’ll learn to work with the Crystal Playground: this is like a modern graphical version of a REPL (a Read Execute Print Loop, such as irb or pry for Ruby).