About
Hi, I’m Serdar 👋
I’m a software engineer, open source advocate, and one of only 14 Crystal Core Team members worldwide, based in Istanbul. My most well-known project is Kemal - the most popular web framework in the Crystal ecosystem with the motto “Fast, Effective, Simple” - downloaded over 5 million times since 2015.
My current main focus is gcry, a native garbage collector for Crystal that I’m building from scratch. It aims to eliminate Crystal’s dependency on the Boehm GC and make the language even stronger.
My Journey
I started my software career after earning my Computer Engineering degree from Istanbul Commerce University in 2011. I worked with Android, iOS, Java, and PHP before discovering Ruby - and that’s where everything clicked.
In 2015, I realized I needed a language that combined Ruby’s elegance with C’s performance. So I built Kemal. Crystal was still in its infancy, and watching both the language and the framework grow has been an incredible ride.
Career highlights:
- Senior Software Engineer @ RainforestQA (San Francisco) - Crystal, Ruby, Docker, Kubernetes
- CTO @ Twentify (Istanbul) - Engineering leadership, “Bounty” app
- Currently Software Architect & Senior Developer - freelancing with global companies
Open Source DNA
I started contributing to open source in 2013. Today I actively maintain 10+ projects:
| Project | Role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Kemal | Creator & Maintainer | Crystal’s leading web framework - 5M+ downloads |
| gcry | Creator & Maintainer | Native conservative mark-sweep GC for Crystal |
| Crystal | Core Team Member (since 2018) | Language-level contributions |
| Crystal for Rubyists | Author | Free book teaching Crystal to Ruby developers |
| cryload | Creator & Maintainer | CI-first HTTP benchmarking tool |
| tren | Creator | First-class SQL methods for Crystal |
| fast-http-server | Creator | Zero-config HTTP server |
My philosophy is simple: Open Source by default. Everything I write should be accessible and useful to the community.
Speaking & Community
I’ve spoken at dozens of international conferences across 3 continents about Crystal, Kemal, and open source:
- 🇺🇸 Detroit Tech Watch - Detroit, USA
- 🇯🇵 crystal.tokyo - Tokyo, Japan
- 🇧🇬 Balkan Ruby - Sofia, Bulgaria
- 🇺🇦 RubyC - Kyiv, Ukraine
- 🇵🇱 Polyconf - Poznan, Poland
- 🇹🇷 Webend - Istanbul, Turkey
I’m also the founder of Ruby Türkiye and Crystal Türkiye user groups.
Current Interests
- 💎 Crystal & gcry - Making Crystal an even better language
- 🤖 AI & Open Source - How AI impacts the OSS ecosystem and developer experience (DX)
- 📈 Macroeconomics - Understanding economic systems
- 🌱 Self Development - Continuous learning and growth
A Bit Personal
Born March 22, 1989 in Mersin, Turkey. I’m passionate about languages:
| Language | Level |
|---|---|
| Turkish | Native |
| English | Advanced |
| Japanese | Upper-Intermediate (JLPT N4 - 125 pts) |
| German | Beginner |
| Chinese | Beginner |
When I’m not coding, I’m reading about macroeconomics, practicing Japanese, or picking up yet another language.
Get In Touch
Conference invites, collaborations, open source discussions, or just to say hi:
- 📧 Email: [email protected]
- 🐦 X/Twitter: @sdogruyol
- 💻 GitHub: github.com/sdogruyol
- 🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/serdardogruyol