I am excited to see new programming languages like this. I can name 100 duck typed, interpreted, GC'd languages, but only half a dozen native compilers for modern languages. Native binaries are much easier to deploy on consumer's desktops than bytecode or source code requiring >50MB VMs, and the code tends to be much more rigid and rigorous with a statically typed language like this.

I haven't downloaded the compiler yet, but here are a few things I like after reading the documentation.

- The C bindings are nice and simple in Crystal, with full support for structures and data types,

- "Globally named" symbols are a really great idea, especially in native binary when compiled to Int32's,

- OOP support seems polished with full support for encapsulation,

- Basic control structures and scope are also polished and familiar, while leaving beind the nasty parts from Ruby (i.e. `for do` vs `for`, Matz's regret for `do ... while`, etc)

- --hierarchy. Why haven't I seen a compiler support this by now?

A final point: "Everything is an object" and C-like efficiency seems paradoxical, but I'll look more into this. Objects may be abstracted by the compiler, but once compiled behave like any ole' statically typed system.