How fast can I learn comp programming?

How long does it take to learn computer programming? I don't have any background, and I would need to learn fast. It seems my trading strategy will only work if automated. Can somebody outline what courses I have to take and what I need to learn to be able to program an algo for my strategy?

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Best Response

It takes about a four credit-hour class at UIUC to go from knowing nothing about programming to understanding the basics of object-oriented imperative programming. Learning a new imperative programming language after that is usually pretty easy.

That said, not everyone is a good computer programmer, and there are a lot of math geniuses out there who suck at algorithms. (There are a lot of algorithms specialists who suck at differential equations and the more advanced calculuses, too, so we're even :D.) Reducing algorithmic complexity is key #1 for complicated trading strategies involving lots of data; optimizing execution- typically in C, C++, or groan assembly is key #1 for simpler higher-frequency strategies.

 

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