Crystal vs. Java vs. Code Search vs. Zig Comparison Chart

Crystal’s syntax is heavily inspired by Ruby’s, so it feels natural to read and easy to write, and has the added benefit of a lower learning curve for experienced Ruby devs. Crystal is statically type-checked, so any type errors will be caught early by the compiler rather than fail on runtime. Moreover, and to keep the language clean, Crystal has built-in type inference, so most type annotations are unneeded. All types are non-nilable in Crystal, and available variables are represented as a union between the type and nil. As a consequence, the compiler will automatically check for null references in compile time. Crystal’s answer to metaprogramming is a powerful macro system, which ranges from basic templating and AST inspection to types inspection and running arbitrary external programs.

With rapidly growing codebases, a proliferating number of repositories, multiple languages and file formats, and an increasing number of developer tools, Sourcegraph's Code Search enables developers to quickly explore and understand their code with precision and accuracy and automate large-scale code changes.