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What programming languages ​​are most in demand in finance

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Translator’s note: This text was written by Michael Halls-Moore, a mathematician and physicist from London who professionally deals in stock trading and is a quantum . Michael founded the resource QuantStart.com, which publishes a variety of deep technical materials, one way or another connected with the field of finance.

People quite often ask about which programming languages ​​are most popular in the financial sphere - for example, in the stock market. Which of them should you know to become an independent developer of financial applications or to get a job in any large market company? This question is not easy to answer unequivocally: C ++, C # and Java have their advantages. Today we take a closer look at each of them.
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C ++


In the financial industry, experts who know C ++ well are always appreciated. A significant part of the exchange and brokerage infrastructure was created using this language, and in fact it needs to be maintained and developed. Anything can be written in C ++: from libraries for calculating price models of derivatives to infrastructure solutions, processing various streams and data storage.

Salaries of developers with 5-7 years of serious development experience in C ++, in the same London can reach £ 500- £ 700 pounds a day ( in Russia companies make so much more difficult, but the demand is also great - for example, C ++ needs developers Moscow Exchange - approx. Transl. ). Of course, one cannot say that this situation will last forever, but so far the realities are as follows.

Another advantage that C ++ knowledge provides is the fact that such developers are usually very much needed by funds specializing in HFT trading. However, in order to get a job in such companies, you need to be a real expert and have in-depth knowledge of optimization, compiler restrictions and the structure of operating systems. It takes years from scratch to reach from zero, and such developers have been working in other areas for quite a long time in other areas where you can get good experience - for example, in telecom companies.

C # / Java


We have combined these languages, because quite often they are used to solve problems of the same level, especially in investment companies and banks. Both of these languages ​​have been around for quite some time, but they are younger than C ++. Software written in C # and Java is used in a huge number of investment companies' projects, especially in the infrastructure - data feeds, frand interfaces and sometimes even modules for calculating the prices of derivatives.

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In order not to start holivars on which language is better or worse, you can immediately say that both C # and Java are very actively used on the “sales side” in the financial industry (for example, in banks), but specialists in these languages ​​are usually less are engaged in infrastructure projects and are not so often involved in the creation of trading software. Nevertheless, experts in these areas are also in great demand on the financial market ( vacancies for the same Java developers, there are both in banks and brokerage companies, and on the stock exchange itself - approx. Translators ).

Python, MATLAB and R


Script languages ​​are collected in a separate paragraph because they have quite a lot in common and are used in similar situations. These three languages ​​are very often used for prototyping quantum models in hedge funds and “quantum” trading divisions in banks.

Quanta-traders and researchers in the field of finance write the code of their prototypes in scripting languages. Then these prototypes are already described using more (as it seems) fast languages, like C ++, by quantum-developers. When I worked as a developer, it was part of my job. If the hustle and bustle of the banking divisions of the banking divisions is not to your liking, then if you have a deep knowledge of these scripting languages, it is quite easy to find a job in an organization that is quieter - for example, in a hedge fund.

Conclusion


If you are an absolute newcomer to programming, then we can recommend to delve into the study of C ++ and Python. If you master these two languages ​​(and can confirm this at the interview), then you will have no problems with finding employment in the financial industry.

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Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/220605/

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