Is a CS background necessary for HFT?
So I recently met with an alumnus who is a quant developer at a small HFT shop. He told me that the majority of the traders at the firm have no programming skills and only input parameters into their software while watching the markets to trade, and that the quants and developers were responsible for adjusting the software and developing strategies. I was wondering how common this is because it seems to be stressed on WSO that you need a CS background to even be considered for HFT.
Interviewed / discussed with a few HFT firms. Tower Research / HRT are definitely CS-only. SIG calls itself high-frequency somewhere on its website, but people here don't really think of it as such -- and you wouldn't need a CS background there.
Edit: Jump would also be CS only.
There are firms that don't require CS backgrounds, but the things you can do in the space without programming skills are quite limited. Since you'll lack the ability to implement your own strategies, you'll be at the mercy of other developers (who may not have the time to dedicate to your pet projects). Also, the attribution of credit becomes messy (if you had the idea, but someone else executed on your idea, what's a fair allocation of credit?).
I come from a CS background and I eventually realized that I'd be better off cutting non-programming traders out of the equation. Programming is hard, but making money is also hard. Also, I generally view not learning to program as a sign of laziness, given how tech-driven our industry is. The good news is there are tons of free resources on programming.
Which language would you recommend learning first? I've been told either java or C# but I'm not sure which would be better/easier to learn first
self taught or course?
I've seen enough people teach themselves and implement some useful stuff starting on python, then moving onto C#. When it comes down to whether C++, C# or Java, everyone has strong opinions. Pick which one you get a better feel for, and which communities you find more engaging. Stackoverflow is awesome, but very unforgiving if you expect them to do all the work.
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