Crystal is for Ruby programmers who want more performance, or for developers who enjoy working in a high-level scripting environment. Crystal combines native execution speed and concurrency with Ruby-like syntax, so you will feel right at home. This book, the first available on Crystal, shows you how to write applications that have the beauty and elegance of a modern language, combined with the power of types and modern concurrency tooling. Now you can write beautiful code that runs faster, scales better, and is a breeze to deploy. Crystal is elegant to read and easy to program like Ruby, allowing full object-oriented development. Its compiler is powerful enough to nearly always infer the type of your variables. So you get the benefits of a statically typed language: more robust code, safety and execution speed, while still reaching high productivity in development. Null pointer exceptions as in JavaScript, Java or C#, are a thing of the past: Crystal annihilates them, just like Rust. Explore the building blocks and design of the language, and how you can use the Crystal tool-chain to build and manage powerful applications. Harness the power of the macro system, as well as how to work with fibers and channels, making concurrency as easy as possible. Learn how to use the Kemal web framework and access databases, and how to tap the potential of existing Crystal libraries. Find the spot that Crystal fills in today's software world with real-world examples. With Crystal, you can combine the best of both worlds: the high-level coding of dynamic languages, and the safety and blazing performance of a natively compiled language. What You Need: To develop in Crystal, you only need Crystal v 0.26 the latest version, a common text editor and a browser.

The ultimate guide to Crystal programming covering all its fundamental concepts such as OOP and concurrent programming to help you write readable and safe code and build fast applications Key Features • The book uses an example-based approach for a better demonstration of the underlying concepts • Develop a thorough appreciation of the roles of the macro API and annotations • Leverage supportive tools – spec, documentation, deployment, and automation Book Description Crystal is a programming language with a concise and user-friendly syntax, along with a seamless system and a performant core, reaching C-like speed. This book will help you gain a deep understanding of the fundamental concepts of Crystal and show you how to apply them to create various types of applications. This book comes packed with step-by-step explanations of essential concepts and practical examples. You'll learn how to use Crystal's features to create complex and organized projects relying on OOP and its most common design patterns. As you progress, you'll gain a solid understanding of both the basic and advanced features of Crystal. This will enable you to build any application, including command-line interface (CLI) programs and web applications using IOs, concurrency and C bindings, HTTP servers, and the JSON API. By the end of this programming book, you'll be equipped with the skills you need to use Crystal programming for building and understanding any application you come across. What you will learn • Explore how Crystal combines the merits of other languages • Understand how to leverage existing C libraries without writing any C • Focus on zero-cost abstractions with compile-time macros • Use an example-based approach to demonstrate language features • Develop a variety of Crystal applications, such as web and CLI apps • Gain an understanding of the macro API and annotations Who this book is for Developers who want to learn Crystal programming or anyone looking to improve their ability to solve real-world problems using the language will find this book helpful. Experience in application development using any other programming language is expected. However, prior knowledge of Crystal is not required.

I wrote this book from the perspective of a programmer wanting to learn how to integrate reports within a .NET application. I've been working with Crystal Reports since Visual Basic 3 and it's always been difficult to find technical information on report writing. I spent a year and a half researching what .NET programmers need to successfully create, implement and deploy a Crystal Reports application. I even put the book on the internet for everyone to read for free all of last year. This generated an incredible number of emails from programmers telling me what they liked, disliked, and what was missing from the book. I learned that there are two distinct types of .NET programmers using Crystal Reports. The first type of programmer doesn't have much experience with Crystal Reports and wants a series of tutorials to help them build reports from scratch. For this programmer I wrote 13 chapters which teach you everything about adding reports to ASP.NET and Windows applications. It starts with the basics of building reports to adding charts, crosstab reports, sorting and grouping, subreports and using the formula editor with Basic syntax and Crystal syntax. The second type of programmer has been using Crystal Reports for years and is mostly concerned with how to do technical runtime customization of reports. For this programmer I researched and diagrammed the undocumented report object models. I included dozens of examples in both VB.NET and C# to show you how to modify reports, manipulate different data sources (XML, ADO.NET, ODBC, OLE DB, stored procedures with parameters), modify formulas and report parameters, and integrate .NET with the RAS and RDC. The dozens of emails I received when the book was online were instrumental for doing a major revision of many chapters before publishing the book in hardcopy format. Since releasing the book I continue to receive more emails from people. They regret that the free book isn't online anymore, but understand that it couldn't last forever and that the hardcopy version is even better. I hope you like it and that it helps you achieve your reporting goals. September 2004 Update: Due to high demand, I did a second printing of the book. I took advantage of this opportunity to go through the book and remove all grammatical errors. The content is the same, but the typos have been corrected.

Learn how to destress, recharge, and heighten your intuition by harnessing the power of crystals in this indispensable modern guide to the basics of ancient, elemental self-care. Rose quartz, amethyst, tourmaline, and many other eye-catching crystals have captivated people for centuries—for healing, protection, or divination. Crystal healer Tamara Driessen sees these glittering stones as cosmic technology for navigating today’s hectic world, whether it’s boosting your confidence (Peacock Ore), conquering anxiety (Celestite), finding your center (Amethyst), or even getting over your ex (Kunzite). In The Crystal Code, she brings her insight and experience to help you harness the earth’s energy to manifest harmony, health, and connection with ourselves on a deeper level. With Driessen as your guide, you’ll learn about • Seventy empowering crystals (and where to find them) • Techniques to detox from social media and tune in to your body • Ways to activate your intentions with crystal grids • New and full moon rituals • Proper crystal care • And much more Loaded with vivid photographs, The Crystal Code also includes a comprehensive index to the colors and meanings of crystals. And Driessen’s mindful meditations and crystalized self-care rituals will help you follow your intuition, respect your body, and center your priorities. Whether you’re a modern mystic, a new collector, or just crystal curious, this stylish, down-to-earth book will help you unlock the powers of these mystical stones to quiet your mind, enliven your heart, and transform your life.

Our lives are pretty stressful, from the mountains of work emails to the never-ending life admin, finding time to see friends and family whilst still getting in those gym workouts, and why does everyone on Instagram have all this figured out. Working with crystals is a way to slow that frenetic world down, realign your intentions and find the inner calm we all seek. Some say that crystals are magic, but they're more than just magic. They have the power to reveal your truest self, the version of you that's been waiting to be seen and acknowledged. The Crystal Code explains how to the harness the power of these awesome rocks, introducing us to seventy stones and their unique personalities. It will show you how to find the perfect crystals to empower and energize you and will teach you some easy rituals, meditations and crystallized self-care routines. Whether it's peacock ore to give you more confidence on that nerve-racking first date, white celestite to conquer anxiety or purple amethyst to you help you feel centred, this is the ultimate guide to regaining control of your life and to feeling happier, healthier and more grounded.

Touchstones Manual for the Crystal Therapist is essential reading for anyone who loves crystals, whether you are training as a Crystal Therapist or an enthusiastic hobbyist. This user-friendly manual will also assist qualified Therapists looking for new ideas and techniques. The Manual has been written to support the core curriculum of the Affiliation of Crystal Healing Organisations (ACHO) and is the text book for the first year Certificate in Crystal Therapy from Touchstones School of Crystal Therapy. The Manual represents Lauren's experience of teaching Crystal Therapy to professional standards for over a decade. At time of publication she is the Secretary of ACHO.

A full-color practical handbook of essential techniques with an in-depth directory of healing stones • Offers guidance on selecting your crystals and gemstones and step-by-step instructions on how to cleanse, charge, activate, and program them • Includes templates for crystal grids and healing layouts, recipes for crystal elixirs, and directions for crystal meditations and energy clearing with crystals • The full-color directory includes 200 different rocks, minerals, gemstones, and crystal formations, organized alphabetically and featuring the physical, psychological, and spiritual healing qualities for every stone In this in-depth yet easy-to-follow guide, crystal healing teacher Nicholas Pearson offers a full-color compendium of 200 crystals and gemstones as well as a hands-on practical handbook on crystal healing, perfect for those just beginning their crystal journey as well as long-time stone lovers seeking an all-in-one reference. The handbook of crystal use opens with a thorough explanation of crystal energy, including its interactions with the human energy field, and teaches readers how to extrapolate what a crystal does based on its composition, crystal structure, formation process, and other properties. In the chapters on techniques, Pearson offers guidance on selecting your crystals and gemstones, then step-by-step instructions on how to cleanse, charge, activate, and program them. He explains how to make crystal grids and healing layouts, including templates for both, and also discusses the numerology and geometry of crystal grids. He explores the essentials of crystal elixirs, complete with elixir recipes, and details how to perform crystal meditations, clear the energy centers and the aura, and practice more advanced techniques, such as engaging with the crystal devas, creating sacred space, and practices for spiritual hygiene and protection. The compendium includes 200 rocks, minerals, gemstones, and crystal formations, organized alphabetically and featuring full-color photographs. Each entry includes geological information and the physical, psychological, and spiritual healing qualities for every stone. Some stones, such as jasper and quartz, have multiple varieties, each given their own entries to provide a thorough reference guide for crystal healers and collectors. This accessible yet comprehensive guide offers the essentials of crystal energy healing paired with a highly illustrated stone directory to give you everything you need to know about crystal basics in one handy volume.