Why banks need C++ developers more than ever

Daniel Duffy · 4/7/21

It's what I've been saying since 1989!! That's when I started Datasim centred around C++, OOP and applications.

Justifiably known as one of the most difficult coding languages to master,

I know the way C++ feels
And all of the hearts that it steals
C++ tells me it's easy
When you do it right

bigbadwolf · 4/7/21

As banks everywhere look to build up their systematic trading teams as a matter of strategic urgency in the face of competition from electronic market makers like Jane Street and Citadel Securities, a new wave of demand for C++ developers has been unleashed.

Justifiably known as one of the most difficult coding languages to master, banks need engineers proficient in C++ to work on the low latency trading systems that are key to winning business from quantitative hedge funds.

In other words they want trained and experienced C++ programmers -- but don't want to go to the time and expense of training them themselves. Typical. I've got no sympathy for them.

god · 4/10/21

bigbadwolf said:
In other words they want trained and experienced C++ programmers -- but don't want to go to the time and expense of training them themselves. Typical. I've got no sympathy for them.

I would assume that if you're applying for a position like that then you must be an expert already, no?

Daniel Duffy · 4/11/21

god said:
I would assume that if you're applying for a position like that then you must be an expert already, no?

“An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.”
― Niels Bohr

Daniel Duffy · 4/16/21

bigbadwolf said:
In other words they want trained and experienced C++ programmers -- but don't want to go to the time and expense of training them themselves. Typical. I've got no sympathy for them.

Penny-wise, pound foolish.

It's strange that if a motivated working quant (who already works with production C++ libraries, say) wants to improve C++ skills, more time than not they have to pay out of their own pocket.

ptf · 4/17/21

Why C++? Why not Rust? Rust is more safer and as fast as C.

Daniel Duffy · 4/17/21

ptf said:
Why C++? Why not Rust? Rust is more safer and as fast as C.

A bit like the videotape format war.

Videotape format war - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The main determining factor between Betamax and VHS was the cost of the recorders and recording time. Betamax is, in theory, a superior recording format over VHS due to resolution (250 lines vs. 240 lines), slightly superior sound, and a more stable image; Betamax recorders were also of higher-quality construction. However, these differences were negligible to consumers, and thus did not justify either the extra cost of a Betamax VCR (which was often significantly more expensive than a VHS equivalent) or Betamax's shorter recording time.

JVC, which designed the VHS technology, licensed it to any manufacturer that was interested. The manufacturers then competed against each other for sales, resulting in lower prices to the consumer. Sony was the only manufacturer of Betamax initially, and so was not pressured to reduce prices. Only in the early 1980s did Sony decide to license Betamax to other manufacturers, such as Toshiba and Sanyo.

LeFed · 4/17/21

Daniel Duffy said:
A bit like the videotape format war.

Videotape format war - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The main determining factor between Betamax and VHS was the cost of the recorders and recording time. Betamax is, in theory, a superior recording format over VHS due to resolution (250 lines vs. 240 lines), slightly superior sound, and a more stable image; Betamax recorders were also of higher-quality construction. However, these differences were negligible to consumers, and thus did not justify either the extra cost of a Betamax VCR (which was often significantly more expensive than a VHS equivalent) or Betamax's shorter recording time.

JVC, which designed the VHS technology, licensed it to any manufacturer that was interested. The manufacturers then competed against each other for sales, resulting in lower prices to the consumer. Sony was the only manufacturer of Betamax initially, and so was not pressured to reduce prices. Only in the early 1980s did Sony decide to license Betamax to other manufacturers, such as Toshiba and Sanyo.

Are you implying Python is VHS and C++ Betamax?

Daniel Duffy · 4/18/21

LeFed said:
Are you implying Python is VHS and C++ Betamax?

Are you shifting the goalposts?? Now it's Python v C++?

From a business manager perspective, is Rust future-proof?

In August 2020, Mozilla laid off 250 of its 1,000 employees worldwide as part of a corporate restructuring caused by the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.[43][44] Among those laid off were most of the Rust team,[45] while the Servo team was completely disbanded.[46] The event raised concerns about the future of Rust.[47]

I won't be betting my money on Rust.

mirajgc · 5/12/21

I recently started using R, I wanted to ask if we could all the work of Finance in R and how is C++ better and in what ways, I am new to all programming and cant differentiate between them,

Daniel Duffy · 5/12/21

mirajgc said:
I recently started using R, I wanted to ask if we could all the work of Finance in R and how is C++ better and in what ways, I am new to all programming and cant differentiate between them,

R is a tool with lots of useful packages, C++ is a programming language.
They serve different purposes.

ptf · 5/12/21

mirajgc said:
I recently started using R, I wanted to ask if we could all the work of Finance in R and how is C++ better and in what ways, I am new to all programming and cant differentiate between them,

R is slow, but useful for scientific computing lots of packages and the language itself made for easier scientific programming, but when it comes to trading and speed is important, C++ is the choice.

ptf · 5/12/21

Daniel Duffy said:
Are you shifting the goalposts?? Now it's Python v C++?

From a business manager perspective, is Rust future-proof?

In August 2020, Mozilla laid off 250 of its 1,000 employees worldwide as part of a corporate restructuring caused by the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.[43][44] Among those laid off were most of the Rust team,[45] while the Servo team was completely disbanded.[46] The event raised concerns about the future of Rust.[47]

I won't be betting my money on Rust.

Daniel Duffy · 5/13/21

ptf said:
Many big tech companies has joined Rust foundation and the users of Rust are growing exponentially. The benefits of Rust comparing to C++ is huge, and when it comes to financial trading, I think it's the best choice. It has the same speed as C/C++, less memory/leaking skills needed, more developer friendly and less bugs. The benefits are just far more.

Sounds too good to be true. Is it a one-trick pony?

Rust is #24 in the top 100 Billboard charts.

TIOBE Index - TIOBE

www.tiobe.com

Sounds like waffle, your post. No offence intended.

ptf · 5/13/21

Daniel Duffy said:
Sounds too good to be true. Is it a one-trick pony?

Rust is #24 in the top 100 Billboard charts.

TIOBE Index - TIOBE

www.tiobe.com

Sounds like waffle, your post. No offence intended.

ptf · 5/13/21

Daniel Duffy said:
Sounds too good to be true. Is it a one-trick pony?

Rust is #24 in the top 100 Billboard charts.

TIOBE Index - TIOBE

www.tiobe.com

Sounds like waffle, your post. No offence intended.

Daniel Duffy · 5/13/21

ptf said:
According to some research billions of dollars are due to fact of memory leak in C/C++, which requires very high skill on the developers. When it comes to quantitative finance, same thing. No matter how many good students you teach, they make mistakes and maybe the next financial crisis could be because of C++ and memory leak.

Bla, bla bla.

Heard of smart pointers?

Try this

There are two kinds of programmers
1. those who do C++
2. those who talk about C++ (ad nauseam)

Anyways, you did not address my queries on Rust.

ptf · 5/13/21

Daniel Duffy said:
Bla, bla bla.

Heard of smart pointers?

Try this

There are two kinds of programmers
1. those who do C++
2. those who talk about C++ (ad nauseam)

Anyways, you did not address my queries on Rust.

Daniel Duffy · 5/14/21

C++ is one of the few serious programming languages that helps you develop into a competent developer. The various skills that you learn cannot readily be developed in other languages because many of them treat you like a child, or hide important details that you will never get access to or even reach an impasse because they are too inflexible.

My top 8+1 reasons for learning C++

1. Multiparadigm (no other language comes near), Objects, modular, templates/generics, functional programming models

2. It is non-trivial, you learn something.

3. Good way to learn various aspects of computer science

4. It is nice for engineering applications

5. It will be with us forever

6. Learn C++ and after that all others are easy to learn. Believe me.

7. Interfaces with Python, C# etc. (many Python libraries are C++).

8. Yuge installed base

9. Impress people at cocktail parties with statements like "I have just written a parallel Monte Carlo option pricer in C++17/C++20, with lambdas,futures and variadics".

Why banks need C++ developers more than ever