About C++

[Rebelex]

What's up guys?

This is actually my first post in this forum. I am a junior undergraduate and I am getting two degrees in Math and Finance.

I know one of the important skills to be a quant is programming. So, this semester I decided to take my first C++ programming class. I have few questions here:

1) Is C++ the most common/basic programming languange using in a quant career? or you have to know others like visual basic, java, C, C#......

2) Which editor and compiler should I use for C++ if I would like to be a quant in the future? I am using window XP. Please name some, I need some suggestions.

Let me know if you don't understand my questions.
Thanks!

 

[Connor]

1) C/C++ is the way to go in my opinion. It is widely used and if you know C/C++ then picking up Java or C# should be easy. If you wanted to learn Visual Basic then I would recommend learning VBA in Excel, as having strong Excel skills is always a plus.

2) I don't have a solid recommendation but I will suggest Eclipse and Visual Studio.

 

[alain]

1) C++ is common but it's far from basic. It's not simple either. If you decide to learn C++, you should concentrate in learning a subset of it really really well.

2) You are asking the wrong question. If you are using Windows (all flavors are equally bad, some worse than others), you should use Visual Studio. However, make sure you use standard C++ and not managed C++.

 

[iddqd]

1) Agree with what others have said. Focus on one thing first, once you have strong programming fundamentals picking up other languages will be easier. You could potentially need any of the other languages listed at some point.

2) Use Visual Studio if you're doing Windows. Once you get comfortable with a good amount of C++ (ie you're at the point where you're creating programs with several source files) I'd also look at getting comfortable with vi/emacs and a UNIX C++ compiler. Using vmware player (free) or workstation ($) and an ubuntu linux install is a fast and cost-effective way to do this.

 

[alain]

Using vmware player (free) or workstation ($) and an ubuntu linux install is a fast and cost-effective way to do this. <!-- / message -->

Even better, use VirtualBox (completely free) and any Linux flavor.